GUWAHATI, Dec 24: Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma chaired a meeting of his cabinet yesterday. While Chief Minister Dr Sarma along with six other ministerial colleagues attended the cabinet meeting from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Dibrugarh, nine other ministers joined the meeting from Janata Bhavan in Dispur via video conference and Ranjit Dass and Kaushik Rai joined from Bongaigaon and Silchar respectively.
Following are the key decisions that were taken in the cabinet meeting.
Stern Action against officials
▸ The Orunodoi scheme has been envisioned to reach the poor section of the society to realise the vision of Antyodaya and empower our Nari Shakti.
▸ An internal review has unearthed 683 Govt employees taking undue benefits of Orunodoi, going against the set rules for availing the scheme.
▸ Cabinet has approved initiating Departmental Proceedings and issuing of Show Cause notice to the 683 employees for illegally taking Orunodoi benefits.
2025-Year of Reading
▸ To promote the habit of book reading amongst the people, particularly the youth, Cabinet has approved celebrating 2025 as the ‘Year of Reading’.
▸ Assam Book Fair will be held in Khanapara this time for the first time to facilitate ease of book lovers.
▸ Book Fairs will be conducted in all districts through the year, and promote reading as a habit.
▸ Books will be provided as gifts in the New Year.
▸ Departments will construct or create libraries to promote reading amongst Govt employees.
Opening up global opportunities with Assam International Skill Centre
▸ To enforce a formal mechanism to facilitate placement of skilled/semi-skilled candidates overseas, Cabinet has approved setting up of the Assam International Skill Centre (AISC) under ASDM.
▸ The AISC will create an ethical and organized pathway for overseas placement of candidates, aligning Assam’s workforce with global labour demands.
▸ AISC will operate in a Hub & Spoke Model with its Hub located in Guwahati and centres spread across the State.
Remuneration for Gaon Pradhans
▸ Gaon Pradhans are important functionaries of the Administration and play a key role in looking after local level matters.
▸ To provide them compensation for their work, Cabinet has approved monthly remuneration to all the present Gaon Pradhans in the respective Forest Villages and in the villages under FRA Act 2006.
▸ A remuneration of ₹9,000 for each Gaon Pradhan per month has been approved to be paid from January 1, 2025 to 278 Gaon Pradhans in Forest Villages and 668 Gaon Pradhans in FRA villages in non 6th Schedule areas.
