Assam: After MBBS, 5% reservation approved in BTech/BE courses for govt school passouts

Guwahati, Dec 2: To provide equal opportunities to students from diverse backgrounds, the Assam government on Friday approved seat reservations in Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) and Bachelor of Engineering (BE) courses in Government Engineering Colleges for students who passed out from state government schools.

The decision was taken during the weekly cabinet meeting held in Tinsukia district wherein the cabinet approved 5% seat reservation for students who studied from Class 7 to 10 in government schools (under SEBA) and Class 11 to 12 in government schools/colleges/provincialised colleges (under AHSEC).

It may be mentioned that earlier in October the state government approved framing a policy for reservation of 5% seats in MBBS/BDS courses in Government medical and dental colleges for students who studied from class 7 to 10 in government schools under SEBA and class 11 to12 in state government and provincialised schools under AHSEC.

Meanwhile, other key decisions that the government took are the following:

Free Rice for Underprivileged:

• Rule 4 of the Assam Food Security Rules, 2022 to be amended as part of the Government's efforts to provide free rice to underprivileged households
• The proposed amendment will ensure that State Government Muster Roll employees, daily wage earners and retired Grade-IV employees of Central and State Government, and contractual employees with annual family income of less than Rs. 4 lakh will be eligible for benefits under NFSA

Land Settlement in 16 Districts

• Land to be settled in favour of indigenous, landless families in Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Nagaon, Barpeta, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Nalbari and Dhubri districts under Mission Basundhara 2.0
• Land settlement approved for 4,444 indigenous, landless families in the 16 districts in both urban and rural areas

Partial Decentralised Paddy Procurement

• To streamline the process of paddy procurement, Partial Decentralised Procurement (DCP) of paddy to be implemented in Bongaigaon and Biswanath districts by Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (AFCSCL) during Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-24 at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.69 crore
• A tripartite agreement to be signed among the Government of Assam, Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Department of Food, Public Distribution, Government of India
• Under the DCP system, the designated agency shall procure paddy from farmers at MSP, mill the paddy in designated rice mills and send the rice to designated godowns. The distribution process will be taken up by the Commissioner of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs via designated Fair Price Shops (FPS)
• Procurement targets-

Bongaigaon: 14,000 MT and the estimated recovery of rice would be 9,380 MT at 67% recovery

Biswanath: 15,000 MT and the estimated recovery of rice would be 10,050 MT at 67% recovery

An Enabling Environment for Welfare Activities

• For creating an enabling environment for welfare activities, approval to the Constitution of Corporate Social Responsibility Authority of Assam (CSRAA) and its rules and regulations
• It will help in identifying critical gap across different sectors/departments during the implementation of different schemes
• Constitution of CSRRA will help streamline investments coming through CSR funds and dovetalling with Government schemes for all-round development of the State

GMC to issue Municipal Bonds

• Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to issue municipal bonds under Section 124(1) of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act, 1971

Rs. 100cr for ATCL

• Rs. 100 crore to be released to Assam Tea Corporation Ltd (ATCL) against the budget provision in 2023-24 for payment of interest on delayed deposit of Provident Fund to Assam Tea Employees Provident Fund Organisation (ATEPFO)

Draft Prosecution Service Rules Approved

• Approval to amendment of the draft Assam State Prosecution Service Rules, 2023 for ensuring a clear methodology for recruitment to the Assam State Prosecution Service

Land for ICAI’s Centre of Excellence

Approval to settlement/transfer and reclassification of land measuring 10 bigha at Utar Fulung village under Barbongshar Mouza in North Guwahati Revenue Circle in favour of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAl) for establishing state-of-art Centre of Excellence at Guwahati

Customised Incentives to 3 Companies

• For transforming the industrial sector of Assam, customised incentives to be granted to three companies - M/s Galaxy Infra, The Indian Hotels Company (Taj Kaziranga) and Bhavya Shristi Udyog Pvt Ltd - as recommended by Empowered Committee for Customised Incentives under the Industrial and Investment Policy of Assam (IIPA), 2019

Optimisation of Patta Types

• Approval to optimisation of patta types through a Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN)
• This system of optimisation done in view of the hindrances caused in modern Land Record Management as some of these types of patta do not clearly represent the tenure