Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma: A reflection on the Journey of 100 days

Riding on the good wishes and blessings of the people of Assam, our government assumed the reins of power exactly before 100 days. We embarked into a journey to bring about a substantive and meaningful transformation. While 100 days may be too short a period to bring about transformative changes, especially in the area of governance, nevertheless the seeds have already been sown and there are enough indications that these will bear fruits in the coming days.

Based on our Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji's philosophy of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Prayas", we have already built the tempo for a citizen-friendly governance movement in the State. Continuous engagement with citizens is an essential ingredient of participatory governance, a strong point in case, is the heartening response to our Government's call to affluent people to surrender their ration cards.

Our government took over the reins of governance when the devastating second wave of Covid-19 was ravaging the State. Hence, our priority was to tackle the mounting challenge of Covid-19 and, to achieve this, 'Team Assam' dedicated its entire effort under the overall guidance of Hon'ble Prime Minister.

We adopted the strategy of test, treat, trace and vaccinate. We have also made adequate preparations to minimise the impact of a third wave, which many health experts are predicting. Our Covid warriors led from the front and helped Assam emerge victorious in its war against the pandemic.

With the tireless efforts of our health workers, we have been able to bring down the positivity rate from 9.13 % to 0.73 %, installed oxygen generation plants with a total capacity of 13.56 MT, nearly doubled the number of ICU beds in State medical college hospitals from 793 to 1,308 and administered over 1.48 crore doses of vaccine.

We recognise the long-term loss caused by Covid-19, particularly to children who lost their parents in the pandemic. We announced the Chief Minster's Shishu Seva Scheme under which the State will provide them monthly support until they reach 24 years of age. Besides our focus to overcome Covid, in these 100 days, we have taken firms steps to defeat several other ills that confront our society, threaten our civilisational heritage and undermine our future.

I have always believed a drug-free society is essential for a prosperous Assam. In 100 days, our police made great strides in demolishing the infrastructure that facilitated supply of drugs and narcotics. Drugs worth Rs 183 crore were seized and more than 1,760 people were arrested. I wish to place our sincere gratitude to Adarniya Griha Mantri Shri Amit Shah ji for handholding and guiding us in this endeavour. We will continue to deal with the drug menace with an iron hand and achieve our mission of drug-free Assam.

Cattle have been revered in our culture for ages and their protection has been always our top priority, which was mentioned in our election manifesto. Delivering on our poll promise, we passed the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021. With this, we intend to stop the flourishing illegal cattle trade and transit through Assam, which was rampant over the years. Further, we led encroachment drives to clear illegal settlements built around our temples and namghars.

Our Sankalp Patra is a sacred document for us. In the past 100 days, we either delivered on these promises or are working hard towards realising them. As promised, we have already increased the assistance under Orunodoi from Rs 830 to Rs 1,000 per month and added 6.38 lakh new beneficiaries. As per our poll promise, we notified the Assam Microfinance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS), 2021 to provide relief to loanees of microfinance institutions. We fulfilled our assurance made to our brothers and sisters in tea gardens by increasing their wages from Rs 167 to Rs 205 in the Brahmaputra Valley and from Rs 145 to Rs 183 in the Barak Valley with retrospective effect from February 2021. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya's clarion call of 'Antodaya' is the foundation premise of our policies and we will continue to focus on the last person in the queue.

Assam's ace pugilist Lovlina Borgohain's historic feat at the Tokyo Olympics is the proudest moment for every Assamese and we celebrated the occasion with great fervour and by taking steps to ensure that there will be many more Lovlinas going to 2024 Olympics.

To make the upcoming five years a glorious era in Assam's history, we used our 100 days to lay foundation of some transformative changes. Under the maxim "minimum government and maximum governance", we delegated more powers to district deputy commissioners to fast track Jal Jeevan Mission targets, allot land for industries and expedite flood relief work.

During this short span of time, Assam became the first State in India to pass the Model Tenancy Act to provide a framework for resolving disputes between tenants and landlords. Assam has also become the second State of India to have an Ethanol Policy. For the first time, we created a consolidated database of all government-owned land within 100 days.

This is a momentous occasion for the people of Assam. With a supportive BJP government at the Centre and the party in power in Assam, the double engine of growth is gaining new momentum in the State. In these three months, along with our colleagues in the Central government, we are speeding up the implementation of key Central schemes such as Jal Jeevan Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and PM Kisan.

In the past, governments at the Centre and North East had intentionally left inter-State borders un-demarcated and ambiguous. Over the past 100 days, we made sufficient progress to put an end to these decades-old legacy disputes, particularly with Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

Assam kicked off Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on a historic note – for the first time since 1979, this year's Independence Day was celebrated without any call for bandh by any extremist organisation. This milestone in our 100-day journey is reflective of the progress we are making under the leadership of Adarniya Pradhan Mantri Shri Narendra Modi ji in bringing Assam from the periphery to the core of India's progress and development.

We started our journey with the love and blessings of our people. We sincerely request for your participation to transform this journey into a mass movement. In the coming days also, we reiterate our commitment to continue our work for the development of Assam with the support of all sections of the people. We took it as an opportunity for us to change our fate and our state.

Also Read: COVID-19 Control: Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma Best Among the CMs in India

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