Assam home guard bodies oppose recruitment of 5,000, threaten stir over unemployment
Over 8,000 trained home guards still jobless; unions warn of Statewide protests if govt fails to reverse decision
An image of the Assam Home Guards and Civil Defence.(photo:@HardiSpeaks/X)
Kokrajhar, Oct 20: Two major organisations – the All Assam Trained Home Guards Association and the All Assam Home Guards Volunteer Welfare Association – have voiced strong opposition to the State government’s recent Cabinet decision to train 5,000 new home guards. The groups have warned of launching a mass democratic movement unless the decision is revoked.
At a joint press conference held at the Kokrajhar Press Club on Saturday, leaders of the home guards’ bodies, including Jiten Chandra Barman, Borhan Karji, and Sahadat Hussain, denounced the government’s decision, arguing that it violates the Assam Home Guards Act of 1947, as amended in 2015. They accused the government of acting unilaterally and ignoring the rights and welfare of personnel who have already been trained.
Citing figures, the associations pointed out that Assam currently has 26,696 trained home guard volunteers, of whom 8,196 remain unemployed. They argued that recruiting and training 5,000 new individuals is both unfair and unnecessary when thousands of trained personnel are still awaiting work.
The associations urged upon the Chief Minister to immediately rescind the Cabinet decision, warning that continued inaction would lead to a Statewide democratic agitation by the trained home guards.
ASHA body’s ire: Meanwhile, the Sadou BTR ASHA Karmi Santha has strongly condemned the “false and fabricated” statement allegedly made by United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) general secretary Raju Narzary regarding the involvement of ASHA workers in the PMAY survey process.
Addressing a press conference at the Kokrajhar Press Club on Saturday, the president of the organisation, Chandan Roy, along with the Dotma unit block secretary, Sarathi Narzary, vehemently denied any participation of ASHA workers in the PMAY survey. The leaders clarified that ASHA workers across the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) have never been engaged in any activities related to the PMAY survey under the UPPL government.
The Santha’s leaders demanded that Raju Narzary should immediately withdraw and correct his statement to avoid further misunderstanding. They further appealed to the Hagrama Mohilary-led Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) government not to engage ASHA workers in work not related to healthcare, emphasising that their duties are confined strictly to the healthcare sector.