Political News: Sacrifices of Assam agitation martyrs will continue to inspire people: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said in spite of the sacrifices of several hundred youths during the movement; the Assamese community is still unsafe, rather it is more vulnerable as huge tract of land of the state has come under encroachment.

Sarma said that the sacrifices and heroism of the martyrs of six years long Assam agitation would continue to inspire the people of the state to embark on a new economic and political movement for the survival of the Assamese community. The Chief Minister said this while speaking at the “Shradhanjali” programme organized by the Assam Accord Implementation Department on the occasion of “Swahid Divas” celebration at Swahid Smarak Park at Paschim Boragaon in Guwahati.

Coinciding with the occasion, Chief Minister Sarma released the 2nd and 3rd volume of the database on Assam agitation titled “Asom Andolonor Tathyakosh”. He also ceremonially launched a Rs. 5 crore corpus fund to benefit people affected by the agitation.

Sarma said, “Martyr Khargeswar Talukdar sacrificed his life for safeguarding our land from the aggression of illegal migrants at Bhabanipur on this day in 1979 while taking part at the spontaneous mass movement. He said that to uphold the pride of the Assamese people, more than 850 youths of the state lost their lives in Assam agitation and added that their sacrifices would continue to inspire us to move ahead with the new economic and political movement launched in the state for greater interest of the Assamese community”.

The Chief Minister observed that in spite of the sacrifices of several hundred youths during the movement; the Assamese community is still unsafe, rather it is more vulnerable as huge tract of land of the state has come under encroachment today. The Assamese community has lost economic power and their political authority is greatly challenged today, he said and appealed the people to introspect at this critical juncture to make the Assamese community stronger.

Stating that the present government has been working staunchly every day in last six months to rebuild the Assamese community, Chief Minister Sarma urged the people to unite themselves to safeguard the language, art & culture and land rights of the Assamese people. He also said that the state government has been making unrelenting efforts to boost harmony within the community and said that eviction at Gorukhuti in Sipajhar and the agricultural revolution it has launched is the beginning of a new movement for regaining the rights of the Assamese. He further said that the government is committed to face all challenges and continue its efforts to keep the state’s hallowed civilization afloat.

Moreover, the Chief Minister urged all to take active part in the movement for regaining the economic and political power form the hands of aggressors. He also made an appeal to those who have chosen the path of violence to join the peace process to boost this new movement.

While launching the Rs. 5 crore corpus fund for the affected of Assam agitation, the Chief Minister said that efforts will be made to increase the fund up to Rs. 50 crores with support from public and private contribution. He also announced that along with the Swahid Smarak Park at Paschim Boragaon, the state government would set up a memorial project at martyr Khargeswar Talukdar’s birth place Bhabanipur covering an area of 100 bigha land.

Sarma held a review of the progress of PM Street Vendors Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme at Assam Administrative Staff College and asked the implementing authorities to expedite disbursal of the loan amount under the scheme to the beneficiaries.

It may be noted that PM SVANidhi, is a Special Micro-Credit Facility launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, for providing affordable loan to street vendors severely hit by COVID 19 lock down to resume their livelihood.

Assam has received 40 thousand applications under the scheme and out of the 20 thousand sanctioned so far, loan amount to more than 17 thousand beneficiaries have already been disbursed.

Sarma during the meeting asked the bankers and executive officers of all the urban local bodies to make special efforts to pay the working capital loans to help the street vendors resume their livelihood post COVID 19 lock down. He also asked Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah to hold virtual meeting with all the stakeholders to enable the targeted beneficiaries to reap benefits from the scheme.

Sarma taking State government towards real-time governance has launched online municipal services and online instant trade license, online property tax assessment and payment, online building permission system and project management and monitoring system.

Sarma said that the present State government has been persistently working to lend convenience to the people of Assam. To enable people to enjoy government services 24 hours, the government has adopted technological solutions which have helped the people to provide transparent, timely and accountable services. He said that from now on people of the state can have services like building permission, trade license, property tax without even going to government offices. He also said that already several services including learners’ license have been made on line. Talking on Mission Vasundhara which the people have responded very positively, the Chief Minister said that already nine lakh people have applied for the service on line. He also gave a brief snap shot of all the steps that the government has taken under Smart City Project.