30 new colleges to be provincialized in Assam, announces Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: In the midst of uncertainties owing to the ongoing pandemic situation, Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the government shall provincialize 30 more colleges.

Making his announcement during the question hour of the Assam Legislative Assembly session, education minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that colleges having any kind of the concurrences within 2006 shall be provincialized by the government.

"Colleges with final approval and concurrence would be provincialized in accordance with the provincialization act of 2011. However, in 2017, our government amended the act and gave a big relaxation. So, colleges with any kind of concurrence—part one, two, or three, before 2006, will be provincialized. This year, we are going to provincialize 30 new colleges," Sarma pronounced on the Assembly floor.

The education minister stated that setting up of a college or seeking concurrence after 2006 is prohibited under the provincialisation act. The colleges will be set up only under the government's initiatives.

However, the government is mulling over the need-based provincialisation in the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) or any other sixth schedule areas, said Sarma.

Recently, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) urged Sarma to introduce Science stream in 12 colleges, mostly in the BTC region, and also urged to provincialize 1,021 venture LP, UP and HE Schools across BTC, as well as 46 colleges.

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