The Centre on Thursday signed an agreement with eight tribal militant organisations based inAssamto bring a lasting peace in some areas of the state.The tripartite agreement among the central and state governments and the eight groups, including All Adivasi National Liberation Army, Adivasi Cobra Militant of Assam, Birsa Commando Force, Santhal Tiger Force, and Adivasi People’s Army, was signed here in presence ofUnion HomeMinisterAmit Shahand Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarmaamong others.

The groups are in ceasefire since 2012 and living in designated camps.

Assam to give protected-class tag to Ahoms in tribal blocks, belts

Ahoms, who ruled most of theBrahmaputra valleyin present-dayAssamfor about 600 years till the coming of the British in 1826, will be accorded protected-class status in tribal blocks and belts of the state.

This was announced by chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmaduring a meeting with several leading organizations of the Tai-Ahom community.

The All Assam Tribal Sangha, the apex body of the tribal organizations of the state, have been critical about enlisting six more communities in the ST category which it feels will severely hamper the political interests of the existing tribal communities. The Centre introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha on January 9 the same year with the aim of granting ST status to six communities in Assam, which are currently enjoying OBC status. The names of six communities Koch Rajbongshi, Tai Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran and Tea Tribes featured in the Bill for granting ST status.

Amid efforts by the MHA to de-escalate tension along the Assam-Mizoram border, theAssamgovernment on Thursday issued an advisory, asking its people not to travel to the neighbouring state and those working inMizoramto exercise utmost caution.

The commissioner and secretary stated that the travel advisory has been issued after assessing a video footage available withAssam Policewhich shows that many civilians are heavily armed with automatic weapons.

World Bank’s $391-million aid for Assam healthcare and Tripura roads

TheWorld Bank’s Board of executive directors approved a total of $391 million to improve access to high-qualityhealthcareservices and boost economic opportunities forAssamand Tripura.

The World Bank‘s (WB) focus in Assam will be improving the Health-sector”>Health sector while in Tripura, road Infrastructure and adding technology boost to Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture are in the pipeline. The $251 million variable spread loan for Assam and $140 million loan for Tripura are from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), administered by WB, with a maturity of 10.5 years, including a five-year grace period.

The bank observed that Assam has made strides in increasing access to essential healthcare Services, with 87% of Women giving birth in a facility today compared to just 24% in 2005.

94% students failed to avail educational scholarship in Assam during pandemic: Study

A nation-wide study by non-profit organisation, Save the Children-Bal Raksha Bharat, on the impact of Covid-19 on children showed thatAssamhas the maximum number (94%) of students in the country who could not apply for pre and post matric government scholarships during the pandemic.

In terms of Learning continuity and support from the community in both the elementary and pre-school levels, the least effort was found to be in Assam (68%) while the highest was recorded inKarnatakain both categories, according to the report. But efforts by Anganwadi workers to help in the continuity of learning through Home visits were the highest (41%) in Assam.

The state has fared better than most other states in terms of home visits by teachers in elementary Education. It was the highest in Assam (17% instances) among the six states surveyed. The report said around one-fourth (27%) households reported that at least one family member was infected with Covid since 2020 and 65% of the infected households had to face repercussions from neighbours or from the community. The stigmatisation was reported almost nil in Assam.

Distribution of free foodgrains under PMGKAY-IV begins; 14,700 tonnes distributed so far

TheCentre said distribution of free foodgrains under the fourth phase of thePradhan Mantra Garib Kalyan AnnaYojana (PMGKAY) has started in seven states and about 14,700 tonnes have been given to beneficiaries so far.

About 70.6 lakh tonnes of foodgrains were distributed in the third phase of PMGKAY between May and June, it said.

On ration card portability facility, the government said the remaining four states –Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and West Bengal — are expected to come on board soon.
PMGKAY was first introduced in 2020 for eight months to provide relief to 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the NationalFoodSecurity Act (NFSA) from Covid-induced economic hardships.

The scheme was reintroduced this year for third phase implementation for two months till June and later extended till November under the fourth phase.

Free grains are provided under PMGKAY over and above the quota allocated at highly subsidised rates under NFSA to these beneficiaries.

Covid screening begins in 28,000 villages in Assam

TheAssamhealth department on Tuesday launched a drive to screen and test people in 28,000 villages across 33 districts for Covid-19 in a bid to isolate the maximum number ofhidden positive cases.

TheAssam Community Surveillance Plan(ACSP), as the drive has been named, has been undertaken to break the chain of transmission through active vigil. In the first wave of the pandemic last year, a similar initiative was carried out in the villages. Isolation of all positive cases is the primary goal of the drive to ascertain the magnitude of the Covid-19 transmission. But the actual target is beyond that and has been named Covid Plus, to enlist potential cases ofsevere acute respiratory infections(SARI), influenza like illness (ILI), fever or any other Health issues.

Many cases of malaria, dengue and vector-borne diseases like Japanese Encephalitis (JE) are suspected to have been covered up fearing Covid-19 detection.

In a first for Assam, lone woman in new cabinet gets finance

Chief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarma allocated the finance portfolio to the lone woman member of his cabinetAjanta Neog, making her the first female finance minister of the state. In the last NDA government, Sarma had held this portfolio.
Sarma kept the departments of Home, personnel and public works and any other departments not allotted to any minister with him. Neog will hold the additional responsibility of the social welfare department.

Representative from the Barak Valley, Parimal Shuklabaidya, has been given Environment & forests, and excise departments. He was in-charge of these departments in the last government too.

Move for cultivating multiple crops in rice-fallow places

TheAssamAgricultural University (AAU), with technical support from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has successfully tested four systems by cultivating green pea, mustard, potato and lentil after sali (kharif) rice in six districts.

Field test demonstrations in rice environments were selected during rabi season in 2020-21 and 2021-22 for the four innovative cropping systems. Six districts, with an area of 20 bighas each,were selected for the demonstrations. Cultivation of these crops after paddy harvesting will help in increasing the net income of the farmers. In the long run, one of the cropping systems having highest return and system productivity can be promoted for wider adoption, saidKanwar Singh, senior associate scientist and resident coordinator at IRRI.

Geospatial technologies, including remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS), are being used under the Assam Agri-business and Rural Transformation Project (APART) for identifying suitable areas where multi-cropping can be done after rice cultivation. The AAU targeted identification of the fallow land to increase the Cropping Intensity to bring a significant increase in agricultural output in low productivity areas and enhance system productivity.

Assam has an estimated 25 lakh hectares under paddy cultivation which accounts for almost 83% of the total cultivable land of the state. But most of this paddy cultivation is confined to the kharif season (sali) during when almost 19 lakh hectares is utilized.

Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha and Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi wrote to Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to initiate prompt action to ensure immediate commissioning of the pendingwater supply schemes in Guwahatito provide 24×7 piped water supply to city residents.

Four major water projects were started in 2011. While North Guwahati and theCentral Guwahati water supply projectsare funded by JICA, West Guwahati Zone is funded by JNNURM and East Guwahati zone is funded by ADB. Gammon India was awarded the contract to construct the projects.

He said among the four projects, only the West Guwahati Zone has been completed and commissioned on November 30, 2020. But for the other three projects, even after 10 years, over 30% work is yet to be executed, he added.