ASSAM

Cabinet ministerPijush Hazarikasaid, UnderPrarthanascheme, so far there are around 6,000 such beneficiaries (next of kin). The grant will be provided under this scheme. The amount will be handed over to beneficiaries onGandhi Jayanti. The state government has already rolled out two other schemes for children orphaned due to Covid and women who have lost their husbands to the pandemic. Each child, who has lost both parents, has been given a fixed deposit certificate of principal amount ofRs 7,81,200, a cheque of Rs 3,500 as the first monthly assistance which will continue till they attain the age of 24 years. On completion of 24 years of age, the principal amount parked as fixed deposit against each beneficiary would be credited to their bank accounts.
Under the scheme, for children below 10 years and adolescent girls with no guardian, the state government is taking steps to house such children in childcare institutions and provide funding towards their upkeep, including educational expenditure. Women who have lost their husbands have been given Rs 2.5 lakh as one-time support from theCMs relief fund and will also be entitled to the benefits of Arunodoi scheme along with a monthly widow pension under the ongoingIndira Miri Universal Widow PensionScheme.

Despite a significant dip in the positive cases, still around 20 Covid deaths were being reported in the state daily till recently. The number of fatalities remains a concern, though Barman said the number of Covid deaths has been static of late.

More than Assam, the gateway to the northeast, the bigger worry is other hilly states in the region now. Positivity rate in East Khasi Hills district ofMeghalaya, including capitalShillongstill remains above 10 per cent, while the positivity rate in most districts of Assam remains within 2 per cent.

The aim behind this decision is to facilitate more deserving families to apply for new ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.

The Council of ministers also decided to set up an Adivasi Welfare and Development Council in accordance with the Adivasi accord signed on September 15, 2022, Barua said. The Council will address political, economic and educational aspirations, protect, preserve and promote social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic identities and ensure accelerated and focussed development of Adivasi-inhabited areas and tea garden areas, the Minister said.

The cabinet also decided to pay Rs 1 lakh each as compensation to 1,496 casual labour families of Doloo Tea Estate and Rs2.50 lakh for construction of houses to 173 families who would be displaced for a proposed Greenfield airport.

The cabinet also decided to amend the Assam Gratuity Act to clear confusion regarding the definition of ‘gratuity wage’ and remove the wage ceiling of Rs 2,500, the Minister said.

Over 500 embankment breaches by the ravaging annualfloodswere recorded inAssamin the past one decade (2013-2022), according toAssam State Disaster Management Authority(ASDMA). The state saw the highest breaches in 2015 when 283 breaches were recorded.

According to data provided by the ASDMA, a total of 40 breaches were recorded last year and consequently over 88 lakh population across all the existing 35 districts (before the state government re-merged four districts with their parent districts in December last year) in the state.

TheAssamassembly passed several amendments to the four-month-old cattle preservation law that tightens slaughter guidelines but re-opens inter-district movement of cattle, except to districts bordering Bangladesh.

Cattle will now be allowed to be slaughtered only in a slaughter house duly licensed or recognized by the state and there will be no exemptions which the principal Act, Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021, had provided. As per provisons of the the original Act, “the state government may exempt certain places of worship or certain occasions for slaughter of cattle other than calf, heifer andcowfor religious purposes.” This provision has now been omitted by the amendment.

The amended bill also empowers police to seize and auction vehicles that were used to transport cattle illegally. The amendments also empower the police to enter the house of an accused and inspect, search and seize properties acquired in the last six years with money earned from illegal cattle trade.

According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) published earlier this year, 25% of women aged 18-29 marry before reaching the legal minimum age of marriage, while the percentage of women marrying before the legal minimum age is 32% in Assam. The prevalence of anaemia among women is 60% or more in eight Indian states and Assam, along with Tripura, comes under this category.

The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) is collaborating with the Australia India Water Centre and the Western Sydney University to support water management reforms in India.

With the aim to provide a structured platform for capacity building with strategic and long-term investment to support water management reforms in India, the ‘India Young Water Professional Programme’ has been launched.

The objective of the programme will be to equip water professionals with necessary skills, knowledge, behaviours and networks that will better enable them to contribute to the development and management of water resources in India and address the competency needs and priorities of the water sector.

Mizoram and Nagaland have the two lowest infant mortality rates (IMR) in the country with three and four deaths per 1,000 live births of babies under the age of one year respectively, while progressive reduction has pushed the rate in Assam for the first time below the 40-point mark to 36, a decline of whopping 11 points in five years since 2015.

According to Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020 released on Thursday, the maximum IMR has been observed inMadhya Pradesh(43).

The percentage of neo-natal deaths to total infant deaths is 71.9% at the national level and among the bigger states, Odisha (77.7%) registered the highest percentage of neo-natal deaths to infant deaths and Assam the lowest (53.0%).

Among the other northeastern states, the IMR in Manipur is six, same as that ofKerala, according to the survey. The IMR of Meghalaya is 29 followed by 21 in Arunachal Pradesh and 18 in Tripura.

The IMR for the country has come down to 28 in 2020 from 37 in 2015, a decline of nine points during the period and an annual average decline of about 1.8 points. Over 2019, the IMR in 2020 has registered a two-point decline.

The percent change in average IMR in Assam between 2008-10 and 2018-20 is more than 50% in the states urban areas, the report said. The sex ratio at birth for the country has gone up by three points to 907 in 2018-20 from 904 in 2017-19, with Kerala reporting the highest (974) and Uttarakhand the lowest (844).

With an overall score of 529.84 points out of 1000, Assam University Silchar has improved its rank and secured 12th position among the top 25 central universities in the country in the Outlook-ICARE India university rankings 2021. In the rankings issued by Outlook in 2020, Assam University Silchar was placed 15th among the top 25 central universities with an overall score of 500.13 points.

Vice-chancellor Prof Dilip Chandra Nath said, “Despite manifold hindrances including geographical and financial we are improving every day. This year, we have scored 225.78 points in the Academic and Research Excellence and 115.91 points in Industry Interface and Placement and 71.93 points in Infrastructure and facilities. In Governance and Extension, our score is 78.54 points. But our area of concern remains in the diversity and outreach parameter in which we could score merely 37.68 points on which we are looking to address.

The areas where the cases are being reported from have been earmarked, he said, except in Guwahati. In Guwahati there is a constant movement of people at airport and railway stations where people have been testing positive. But in rural districts, the focused areas are well marked and put under containment. Infections are being tested mostly in the containment zones, Choudhury added.

During the second wave, 7,900 locations were turned into micro-containment zones in the state, but the number of active micro-containment zones has drastically reduced. At least 50% of these micro-containment zones are in the five districts which are under curfew, he said.