GUWAHATI: In the biggest push to decentralize governance in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the state's first Chief Minister's secretariat outside the capital Dispur at Dibrugarh on Friday. The new office, meant to become a regional hub for top-level decision-making, is being billed as a seminal change in Assam's administrative apparatus aimed at taking the government closer to the people of Upper Assam.
The star guest at the function, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal hailed the endeavour and termed it a step to bring in equitable development in all parts of the state. Chief Minister Sarma exclaimed via social media site X, "The new secretariat at Nalbari is not just a building; it symbolizes our government's commitment to reach out to every nook and corner of Assam.".
For decades, legacy issues created a divide in developmental opportunities between regions closer to the capital and those farther away," Sarma said. "This secretariat will directly address that imbalance. Nine districts surrounding Dibrugarh will now have proximity to top-level governance, with faster decision-making and quicker implementation of projects.
The CM announced that he would be spending every month four days working at the secretariat in Dibrugarh. In this way, the voices of people in the surrounding districts will be heard more promptly in order to reinforce the district-centric administration focus of the government.
During his inaugural session in the new secretariat, he took a host of crucial decisions, including issuing an official notification that he would unfurl the national flag in Dibrugarh on Republic Day to press home the symbolic significance of the new secretariat.
It also accorded sanction to a proposal for strengthening the drive to trace illegal immigrants through Assam's international borders, work on which has already been carried out on a priority basis by his government. Bans on sale of new lands within five kilometres of Barpeta town, Batadrava Than in Nagaon and Majuli for 45 days, as well as land mutation in these areas were also sanctioned.
Others include the constitution of the Assam State Museum Management Society, the transfer of commissioners in 19 districts, and revised guidelines issued to the government departments regarding the use of social media.
These decisions have set the tune for a more dynamic and decentralized era in governance in Assam, wherein development and administrative supervision are no longer restricted to the capital with Sarma's first session at the Dibrugarh secretariat.
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