Gautam Ganguly
(gautamganguly2012@gmail.com)
The country was almost in the midst of pandemonium a few days ago. Horrendous rape of a doctor in a medical college in Kolkata and the attempt by the West Bengal government to suppress the obnoxious episode shook the country to the hilt. The Supreme Court had to take suo-motto cognisance and ordered a CBI probe to unearth the culprits. Within days of the Kolkata rape, the country was embarrassed at the rape incident in Badlapur in Maharashtra and the typical lackadaisical attitude of the state government, giving lame excuses. This was followed by the disastrous incident of the Chatrapati Shivaji statue worth crores of rupees falling down in Mumbai within eight months of the formal inauguration. In Uttar Pradesh, 121 people died in a Hindu religious congregation at Hathras, a place that earned notoriety earlier, for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman. And then there was the earth-shaking question paper leak scandal, almost jeopardising the ambitious careers of bright youngsters in the country. In the midst of all such obnoxious incidents, Assam marches ahead peacefully amidst people-orientated developmental activities being implemented at a breakneck speed. A well-administered, controversy-free Assam stands as a beckoning light to other Indian states.
As a perfect sequel to the tangible, people-benefiting schemes being implemented by the government of Assam, the Prime Minister during his last visit to the state laid the foundation stone of multiple road upgradation projects worth over Rs. 3400 crore, under which 43 roads, including 38 bridges, will be upgraded as part of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Corridor Connectivity. Moreover, in a fitting gesture to the pilgrims visiting Kamakhya temple, the foundation stone of ‘Maa Kamakhya Divya Pariyojana’ (Maa Kamakhya Access Corridor) has been laid, which has been sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for the North Eastern Region (PM-Dev) scheme aimed at providing world-class amenities to pilgrims visiting the Kamakhya temple. It is designed on similar lines of Kashi (U.P.) and Mahakal (M.P.) corridors.
In its bid to reduce traffic congestion, thereby providing relief to beleaguered commuters in Guwahati, spectacular fly-overs are being constructed in record time. The state’s longest flyover, named Nilachal Flyover, which stretches over 2.63 kilometres connecting Maligaon Chariali to Kamakhya Gate, has come up. Further, the 2.28-km-long Shraddhanjali Flyover has been completed in 19 months, connecting Commerce College points, ensuring smoother transportation much to the satisfaction of harassed city dwellers. Bhootnath to Machkhowa adjoining road is a connoisseurs delight besides easing out traffic congestion in the area.
Apprehensions at the possibility of cutting century-old trees in the wake of the proposed construction of Dighalipukhuri were expressed by certain sections. Assurance given by the government that no such anti-Guwahati, anti-people act will be executed has relieved the disgruntled people. Most people, however, believe in the good intentions of the present government.
The ceremonial distribution of appointment letters has been the hallmark of the present government, thereby ensuring merit-based, transparent recruitment procedures. The Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had recently handed over appointment letters to 385 youths in the health and education sectors ceremonially.
A total of 125,030 people have been given government jobs since the present CM took office in May 2021, thereby fulfilling the election promise to provide one lakh jobs. No other government has created so many jobs. Most importantly, even the worst critics have not raised any doubt on these appointments.
It needs to be mentioned that the process for advertising 35,000 additional posts is going on and that by May 2025, the total number of recruits is expected to surpass 150,000. Health, education, and police have accounted for the highest number of recruitments so far.
It is heartening that financial experts and analysts across the country view Assam’s economy as stable and progressing well. During 2023–24, the GDP of Assam soared to an unprecedented Rs 5.65 lakh crore, marking a remarkable 14.7 percent growth. Assam is swiftly emerging as an economic powerhouse. Initial estimates indicate a GDP of Rs 6.38 lakh crore this year. The financial health of the state can be understood from the recruitment scenario. In many vaunted states, fiscal management is a gigantic task to meet mandatory requirements for governance, let alone fresh recruits. Another feather in the cap is that the government of Assam ensures payment of salary and pension, inclusive of dearness, promptly every month without any backlog. It is a tremendous achievement, indeed.
A casual glimpse at the history of medical colleges and education reveals that till 2008, there were only three medical colleges in Assam. While the iconic Berrywhite Medical School at Dibrugarh was upgraded into Assam Medical College as early as 1947, Gauhati Medical College and Silchar Medical College were established in 1960 and 1968, respectively. For long 61 years, these three medical colleges were producing a paltry 391 number of medical graduates, falling far short of the requirement of treatment by qualified allopathic doctors to the growing population of the state at an affordable cost. Further, the acceptable ‘doctor-patient ratio’ prescribed by WHO (World Health Organisation) is 1:1000. Needless to say, the ratio in Assam was lopsided for long. Assam had one doctor against 1,800 patients till 2016.
To meet the widening gulf of doctor-patient ratio, the government of Assam had started working towards a solution by establishing government medical colleges. With the establishment of a number of medical colleges, including AIIMS Guwahati, in various places like Nagaon, Nalbari, Kokrajhar, and Dhubri in the year 2023, Assam now boasts of thirteen medical colleges, and 1550 numbers of medical graduates are being produced every year. It’s a qualitative leap from meagre 391 medical graduates in a year till 2008 to 1550, ensuring better medical facilities to people.
A whole gamut of vibrant infrastructure development schemes, bringing tangible transformation in land revenue administration, etc., are being carried out at a breakneck speed, indicating the saying that ‘action speaks louder than words’.