Himanta Biswa Sarma writes: After decades of neglect, Viksit Assam is on the rise

 

PM Modi’s resolve of a Viksit Bharat during Amrit Kaal has been the guiding light for Assam to develop a roadmap for Viksit Assam 2047. In less than eight years, under his guidance, governance in the state has seen more public participation, transparency and accountability

Unlike King Karna, who was cursed by the earth goddess and a poor Brahmin, a prosperous Assam suffers the banes from the past regimes’ apathy and abandonment. In 1950-51, Assam had an enviable per capita income of 4 per cent above the national average. The state has had a tumultuous journey since then. After suffering repeated reorganisation – without economic planning – creating more states till 1971, subsequent blows such as bouts of illegal immigration, agitations, and extremism harmed Assam’s growth. By 1998, Assam’s per capita income went down to 41 per cent below than the national average.

Seven decades of darkness created a complex web of political, economic, and social challenges. We needed a million rays to disperse this darkness and this mission has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His love for the people of Assam and its development is evident in the host of central initiatives that the state has benefitted from in the recent past.

Be it an AIIMS in Assam, the Dhola-Sadiya bridge over the Brahmaputra, India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge at Bogibeel, expansion of Guwahati airport, national highways, power infrastructure, expansion of refineries, gas and oil pipelines, new medical colleges and hospitals, Maa Kamakhya corridor, or massive programmes for women and youth empowerment in Assam, or even recent approval to set up Rs 27000 crore worth semiconductor unit, none of them would have been possible without PM Modi’s support. Indeed, wearing Assam’s traditional gamocha around his neck, he has been the biggest brand ambassador of Assam within and outside India.

When Jawaharlal Nehru, as a Prime Minister abandoned Assam amidst the 1962 Indo-China war while claiming his heart went out to the people of Assam, Prime Minister Modi repeatedly called the region Ashtalakshmi and Bharat’s growth engine.

The Modi government’s focus on Assam is evident in the several visits by the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues to the region. This has helped unleash a double-engine government. As the foot soldiers of Pradhan Sevak Modi who is leading us from the front, we are doing our best to march towards a Viksit Assam. PM Modi’s resolve of a Viksit Bharat during Amrit Kaal has been the guiding light for Assam to develop a roadmap for Viksit Assam 2047. In less than eight years, under his guidance, governance in the state has seen more public participation, transparency and accountability.

Law and order turnaround

We prioritised three issues: extremism, drugs and narcotics, and women’s safety. Our firm and timely measures ensured success on all these fronts. The near end of extremism is a result of negotiations with extremist groups jointly led by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the state. This has resulted in 11 peace accords since 2016, the latest one with ULFA

Second, as per the World Drugs Report 2018, Assam had 7.5 lakh active drug users. Assam and the northeast, which typically acted as a transit point for the illicit transnational drugs trade. We needed to put an end to this and disrupt the deep-rooted network. The Assam police undertook the task. In a massive crackdown between 2021 and 2023, the police registered a record 8,184 cases arresting 13,565 traffickers and seizing 346 kg of heroin and 98,993 kg of ganja and others worth Rs 1,186 crore.

The disturbing infant and maternal mortality rates coupled with the crime against women of Assam were a matter of deep concern. Our strict policies curbing child marriages, repealing the colonial Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorces Registration Act, and focusing on women’s health have shown a significant decline in crime against women – by 51.7 per cent from 2021 to 2022. These steps have gone a long way in ensuring stability and a secure environment in the state.

Women and Youth-led Development

Our strategic roadmap for economic development is showing results. The state’s internal revenue crossed Rs 28,424 crore in FY23-24 (April-Jan). The steady rise in revenues and increased capital expenditure has resulted in continuous double-digit growth in GSDP and per capita income. Assam’s GDP, supported so far by consumption and government expenditure, is now poised to focus on encouraging investment and entrepreneurship.

The outlook is quite clear in the systematic manner in which we have rolled out our flagship schemes. We started with the biggest DBT programme, Orunodoi, for 26 lakh antyodaya women to provide an economic and nutrition safety net with Rs 1,250 per month, micro-finance loan waivers for women SHGs and more. As per NITI Aayog’s multi-dimensional poverty index, 80.36 lakh people in Assam have been uplifted from poverty with a steep decline in poverty headcount ratio from 36.97 per cent in 2013-14 to 14.47 per cent in 2022-23.

As we move ahead, the government has now strategically focused on women and the youth to boost entrepreneurship. In response to the clarion call of our Prime Minister to create one crore lakhpati didis in the country, Assam created 8.72 lakh lakhpati didis. This is 27 per cent of the 40 lakh SHG members. These women had not only built strong businesses for themselves but also are a living example of prudent fiscal discipline. The NPAs for SHGs in Assam stand at 1.05 per cent, almost 40 per cent below the national average.

We are on the cusp of an MSME revolution with 4.2 lakh enterprises registered on the Udyam portal. Other flagship schemes – Chief Minister Atmanirbhar Assam Abhiyan and Mahila Udyamita Abhiyan – are focused on incubating entrepreneurship among two lakh youth and 39 lakh women over the next two years. This would bring in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The start-up ecosystem in the state has also shown a major uptick with several initiatives. We supported 275 start-ups and are on the path of creating 1,500 more.

The next phase: Capital assets and Industrialisation

The massive capital investment of about Rs 50,000 crore from the state budget drowned the frequent lament about prolonged monsoon-related delays in project execution. This includes social infrastructure and the state is now building 24 medical colleges and hospitals against just six that we had in 2016.

The government’s push towards transformative policy initiatives like the semiconductor industry, methanol production, EVs, etc, has set the tone for investments in manufacturing. Assam’s first methanol plant with a Rs 1,600 crore investment, inaugurated by the Prime Minister in April 2023, has already started exporting to Bangladesh and Nepal. Large oil and gas investments including a Rs 28,000 crore expansion of Numaligarh Refinery, expansion of Digboi refinery, railway projects, and airports are at an advanced stage. In the last few months, the state approved Rs 13,400 crore worth of 21 mega industrial units. We are now working on organising our second global investors’ summit in November.

Farm exports from the region have grown by 250 per cent in the last three years and will continue to grow. The tourism sector is another area where the state is seeing a manifold rise.

Tata Semiconductor Unit

The Tatas’ love for Assam goes beyond tea. The industrial group has always been a true friend to the state and the relationship goes beyond business. The Tatas have partnered with Assam in a range of sectors from establishing a cancer-care network to the hospitality sector, and now to a semiconductor plant.

The recent approval by the Union Cabinet for a Rs 27,000 crore Semiconductor Assembly Testing Marking and Packaging (ATMP) Unit by the Tatas is a historic development. The construction work will start in the next 100 days in Jagiroad with a capacity of 48 million per day. Soon, the project location will see a new world-class township to serve its 15,700 employees and another 13,000 indirectly employed.

Tech giants IBM and Tesla are Technology partners for this unit for the co-development of flip-chip and ISP technology respectively. For wire-bond technology, Tatas have operational experience. This would be a gaSeven decades of darkness are now behind Assam’s Amrit Peedi. Our youth are our heroes. We commit ourselves to providing them with opportunities in Amrit Kaal. Rs. 10 lakh crore GSDP target for Assam is just 3-4 years away. Besides, our collective vision is to make Assam one of the top five states in Bharat. As Assam aspires to contribute to the country’s growth, we shall continue to fire on all cylinders.me-changer for the northeast region and catalyse India’s economic ties with South East Asia.

Source: Indian Express, 9/03/24

Assam Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Bill, 2024

 The Assam government recently tabled the Assam Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Bill, 2024, similar to the proposed central law. This legislation is a follow-up to the Assam Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Ordinance issued by the Assam Cabinet in October 2023.

The draft legislation aims to curb cheating and malpractices during exams in the state through strict penalties.

Purpose of the Bill

The primary objective of the bill is to provide effective measures to prevent and curb offences related to leakage of question papers and use of unfair means in public examinations for recruitment to any state government post. This includes posts in autonomous bodies, authorities, boards, and corporations.

Definition of “Unfair Means”

The bill defines “unfair means” as cheating by using unauthorized help in a public examination, leaking or attempting to leak a question paper, procuring or attempting to procure a question paper in an unauthorized manner, selling or solving a paper in an unauthorized manner, and directly or indirectly assisting an examinee in an unauthorized manner. It also includes conducting an examination or printing a question paper or blank answer scripts somewhere other than designated areas.

Key Features

Special Courts

The bill proposes that the state government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court, can designate and notify special courts not below the rank of an Additional District and Sessions Judge.

10-Year Jail Term

The bill introduces a provision for a 10-year prison sentence for offenses like leaking question papers or helping candidates use unfair means. This aims to act as a strong deterrent against exam malpractices.

₹10 Lakh Penalty

The draft law also stipulates a hefty fine of ₹10 lakh for those involved in distributing question papers without authorization or enabling cheating. The financial penalty further discourages such activities.

More provisions

The bill further proposes that an examinee convicted under this law will be barred from writing any public exam for two years. In cases involving organized crime, the court can order the attachment of the offender’s property to recover any wrongful gains. If an institution or Limited Liability Partnership is found guilty of an offence under the law, it will be required to pay all the costs of the examination and will be banned permanently.

Ban on Possessing Questions Illegitimately

The proposed law clearly prohibits candidates from possessing question papers without proper permission. This plugs a key loophole enabling cheating.

Deterring Various Malpractices

Beyond leaking questions, the legislation addresses other common malpractices during exams like copying and external assistance to candidates. Stringent actions against all such activities will help reinforce exam integrity.

Significance

In the past five years, Assam has witnessed two major recruitment scandals. The first occurred in 2020, when a recruitment exam for 597 sub-inspector posts had to be cancelled due to a paper leak. Senior and retired IPS officers were among those arrested. The second scandal emerged in 2021, over two years after the exams had been conducted, when the government announced the cancellation of the 2019 exams for various posts in the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited due to widespread irregularities.

The bill signifies the Assam government’s firm commitment to eradicate cheating and unfair means in exams. It aims to overhaul the examination system and selection processes. However, effective on-ground enforcement and speedy trials will be key to the success of this law. Administrative and judicial delays could blunt its impact. Supporting awareness drives should accompany strict policing.

Opposition Suggestions

Opposition parties have argued for measures like housing exam centers in CCTV surveillance networks. This could complement laws enhancing surveillance and identifying violations.

Why PETA wants to ban two age-old Assamese traditions

 

People for Ethical Treatment of Animals have mounted a legal challenge against the practises of buffalo and bulbul fighting in the Gauhati High Court. What are these traditions? Why were they discontinued? Now that they are back, why does PETA want to ban them?

he Assam government’s attempt to revive traditional practices of buffalo and bulbul (songbird) fighting during Magh Bihu has come up against a legal challenge by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in the Gauhati High Court, which admitted petitions by PETA India seeking a ban on both.

What is this tradition all about? Why were the fights disccontinued? What is behind the Assam government’s move to revive the tradition? And what is PETA’s challenge?

An age-old tradition

These fights are part of the folk culture associated with the Assamese winter harvest festival of Magh Bihu, which takes place in January, at the same time as harvest festivals in other parts of the country such as Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri.

Buffalo fights are held in different parts of Assam during Magh Bihu, with Ahatguri in Nagaon district being the biggest centre. There, the fights been conducted for many decades by the Ahatguri Anchalik Moh-jooj aru Bhogali Utsav Udjapan Samiti, drawing huge crowds. Bulbul fights, on the other hand, are an attraction at the Hayagriv Madhab Mandir in Hajo, around 30 km from Gauhati. Participants rear birds for around two weeks before Bihu, before they are made to fight until one emerges stronger.“While the buffalo fights are folk culture and tradition, this is tied to religion. Before starting, we light saki (lamps) in Lord Vishnu’s name and lay xorai (offering trays)… The practice is very old, we cannot really say when it started. But it was held with great pomp by the Ahom rulers,” Shiba Prasad Sarma,

Discontinued after SC ruling

The fights had been stopped on the heels of the Supreme Court’s 2014 judgement, which forbid the use of bulls as performing animals in jallikattu events and bullock-cart races in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or anywhere else in the country.

The Court also directed the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to ensure that “the person-incharge or care of the animal shall not incite any animal to fight against a human being or another animal.” In January 2015, the AWBI wrote to the Assam government seeking an end to animal and bird fights during Bihu celebrations, following which the government directed district administrations to prevent them. doloi (administrator) of the temple

This was not without resistance. Buffalo fights continued to be held in some quarters in defiance of the prohibition, and the management of the Hayagriv Madhab Temple challenged the order in the Gauhati High Court.

After SC clears path, Assam govt releases SOP to conduct fights

The Supreme Court May last year overruled its 2014 judgement, upholding amendments made by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka governments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 to allow jallikattu, kambala and bullock cart racing. Subsequently, in December, the Assam Cabinet gave a go-ahead for the framing of SOPs for the conduct of buffalo and bulbul fights without “deliberate torture or cruelty” to the animals.

The SOPs which were subsequently released specified that the fights will only be permitted in places where they have been “traditionally conducted” for the last 25 years, and that moh juj (buffalo fights) will only be allowed between January 15 and January 25. The moh juj guidelines prohibit human inflicted injuries, and ban the use of intoxicating or performance enhancing drugs, as well as sharp instruments to instigate the animals. The bulbul fight SOPs require the organisers to ensure that the birds are released in the open “in perfect condition” at the end of the game. The SOPs state that any organization violating the stipulations will face a ban for the next five years.

With the release of these guidelines, the activities were held again during Magh Bihu this year, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself attended the events in Ahatguri and Hajo, and spoke of their revival as an effort to “preserve Assam’s timeless Bihu traditions.”

PETA’s challenge

PETA India has now filed two linked petitions before the Gauhati High Court seeking the prohibition of both activities, as well an interim stay preventing any such fights from taking place during the course of the proceedings.

In these petitions, they state that they investigated the events in both Ahatguri and Hajo this year. The claimed that in Ahatguri,  in order to instigate buffalos to fight, owners slapped, pushed and shoved them; jabbed and struck them with wooden sticks; and pulled them roughly by nose ropes. They stated that many buffalos had injuries on their bodies from the fights, and that the fights lasted util one of the two buffalos “broke away and fled”.

With regards to the event in Hajo, they stated that the bulbuls “were illegally captured and incited, against their natural instincts to fight over food.”

On Thursday (February 1), the court heard an interlocutory application by the petitioners stating that a buffalo fight event was scheduled to be held in Nagaon district on February 4, which would be outside the stipulated period specified in the government’s guidelines.

The Court observed that organising a buffalo fight beyond January 25 is prima facie in violation of the government’s notification. It stated that the petitioners should inform the relevant district administration of the particulars of the event, following which the latter should take the necessary stops to prevent the event, in line with the SOPs.

Written by Sukrita Barua

Source: Indian Express, 4/02/24

Assam Baibhav Award for Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi

 The Assam government has announced that it will confer the Assam Baibhav award, the state’s highest civilian honor, to Member of Parliament and former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi. He has been credited for playing a part in the establishment of the Ram temple in Ayodhya through the apex court judgment delivered under his leadership as CJI.

Achievements of Ranjan Gogoi

Ranjan Gogoi held the office of the 46th Chief Justice of India. During his tenure as CJI, the Supreme Court delivered its ruling on the long-pending Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in 2019. This marked the conclusion of the decade-old controversial case.

Subsequently, Gogoi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in March 2020 by the then President Ram Nath Kovind. He continues to serve in the Upper House of Parliament.

As the first Chief Justice of India hailing from the Northeast, Gogoi pioneered the path for greater regional representation at the highest echelons of the judiciary. Through expeditious adjudication of pending cases, he bolstered access and efficiency of the justice system during his CJI stint.

4 Winners for Assam Saurav

Four personalities have also been named joint winners of the Assam Saurav Award, the state’s second highest civilian honor. These include archaeologist Kishan Chand Nauriyal, swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika, sprinter Hima Das and Tiwa dance exponent Nadiram Deuri.

17 Recipients for Assam Gaurav

Additionally, seventeen eminent citizens across diverse fields will receive the Assam Gaurav Award – the third highest state honor this year. This award includes a financial component of Rs.3 lakhs in addition to a certification or a citation or a medal

Who is a citizen, who is an ‘illegal immigrant’: Questions before SC in Assam Citizenship Act case

 

The ongoing hearing by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will involve questions of citizenship, “illegal immigrants” and rights of “indigenous Assamese” citizens in Assam 

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, on December 5, began hearing pleas challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act,which was introduced in the statute following the signing of the Assam Accord.

Signed in 1985, between the Rajiv Gandhi government and the All Assam Students’ Union, the Accord culminated a six-year-long agitation against the entry of migrants from Bangladesh into Assam.

Crucially, the ongoing hearing by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will involve questions of citizenship, “illegal immigrants” and rights of “indigenous Assamese” citizens in Assam .

What is the challenge?

The plea before the Constitutional bench challenges one of the core elements of the Accord — which determines who is a foreigner in the state. This was also the basis of the final National Register of Citizens in Assam, published in 2019. Clause 5 of the Assam Accord states that January 1, 1966 shall serve as the base cut-off date for the detection and deletion of “foreigners” but it also contains provisions for the regularisation of those who arrived in the state after that date and up till March 24, 1971.

Section 6A of the Citizenship Act was inserted as an amendment to accommodate this. It effectively establishes March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for entry into the state, meaning that those entering the state after that would be considered “illegal immigrants”. While those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971 from Bangladesh will be detected as “foreigners”, they would have the opportunity to register themselves according to rules made by the Central Government. Except for being included in electoral rolls, they would be granted the same rights and obligations as Indian citizens for a period of 10 years from the date they were detected as foreigners. At the end of this ten-year period, however, they would be deemed citizens.

Why is Section 6A under challenge?

The plea before the bench, while questioning the constitutional validity of Section 6A, wants 1951 to be established as the cut-off date for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens instead of 1971. The primary petitioner is the Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha (ASM) — an organisation which says it advocates for the rights of “indigenous” communities of Assam.

Their core argument is that by establishing a different cut-off date for Indian citizenship in Assam than in the rest of India — which is July 1948 — Section 6 A is “discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal” and violative of the rights of “indigenous” Assamese people.

Their petition, which was filed  in 2012, states that “the application of Section 6A to the State of Assam alone has led to a perceptible change in the demographic pattern of the State and has reduced the people of Assam to a minority in their own State. The same is detrimental to the economic and political well-being of the State and acts as a potent force against the cultural survival, political control and employment opportunities of the people.”

When the final NRC in Assam was released in 2019, the Working President of the ASM Matiur Rahman said that the body is looking to an order passed by a two-judge bench led by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi as a possibility that the NRC can be updated according to the terms requested to them.

The order, passed on December 13, 2019 states, “We make it clear that subject to orders as may be passed by the Constitution Bench in Writ Petition (C) No.562 of 2012 and Writ Petition (C) No.311 of 2015, National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be updated.”

“By settling on the date of Bangladesh’s independence in violation of the Constitution, the AASU has gone against the indigenous tribes of Assam by favouring the 70-80 lakh Hindu and Muslim Bengalis and Nepalis who fled from East Pakistan over the course of those years and illegally occupied the lands of indigenous tribes and government lands,” Rahman said.

What are the constitutional issues involved?

While hearing the 2012 plea by the ASM, a two-judge bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton had framed 13 questions on Section 6A for deliberation by a constitutional bench, in an order passed on December 17, 2014.

1. Whether Articles 10 and 11 of the Constitution of India permit the enactment of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in as much as Section 6A, in prescribing a cut-off date different from the cut-off date prescribed in Article 6, can do so without a “variation” of Article 6 itself; regard, in particular, being had to the phraseology of Article 4 (2) read with Article 368 (1)?
2. Whether Section 6A violates Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution of India in that it has diluted the political rights of the citizens of the State of Assam;
3. What is the scope of the fundamental right contained in Article 29(1)? Is the fundamental right absolute in its terms? In particular, what is the meaning of the expression “culture” and the expression “conserve”? Whether Section 6A violates Article 29(1)?
4. Whether Section 6A violates Article 355? What is the true interpretation of Article 355 of the Constitution? Would an influx of illegal migrants into a State of India constitute “external aggression” and/or “internal disturbance”? Does the expression “State” occurring in this Article refer only to a territorial region or does it also include the people living in the State, which would include their culture and identity?
5. Whether Section 6A violates Article 14 in that, it singles out Assam from other border States (which comprise a distinct class) and discriminates against it. Also whether there is no rational basis for having a separate cut-off date for regularizing illegal migrants who enter Assam as opposed to the rest of the country; and
6. Whether Section 6A violates Article 21 in that the lives and personal liberty of the citizens of Assam have been affected adversely by the massive influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
7. Whether delay is a factor that can be taken into account in moulding relief under a petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution?
8. Whether, after a large number of migrants from East Pakistan have enjoyed rights as Citizens of India for over 40 years, any relief can be given in the petitions filed in the present cases?
9. Whether section 6A violates the basic premise of the Constitution and the Citizenship Act in that it permits Citizens who have allegedly not lost their Citizenship of East Pakistan to become deemed Citizens of India, thereby conferring dual Citizenship to such persons?
10. Whether section 6A violates the fundamental basis of section 5 (1) proviso and section 5 (2) of the Citizenship Act (as it stood in 1985) in that it permits a class of migrants to become deemed Citizens of India without any reciprocity from Bangladesh and without taking the oath of allegiance to the Indian Constitution?
11. Whether the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 being a special enactment qua immigrants into Assam, alone can apply to migrants from East Pakistan/Bangladesh to the exclusion of the general Foreigners Act and the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 made thereunder?
12. Whether Section 6A violates the Rule of Law in that it gives way to political expediency and not to Government according to law?
13. Whether Section 6A violates fundamental rights in that no mechanism is provided to determine which persons are ordinarily resident in Assam since the dates of their entry into Assam, thus granting deemed citizenship to such persons arbitrarily?

Written by Sukrita Baruah , Apurva Vishwanath

Source: Indian Express, 8/12/23

Assam Government, NDDB Sign MoU for the Holistic Development of Dairy Sector

 In a significant move aimed at transforming the rural landscape through dairy farming, the Assam government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). This collaboration is set to bring about holistic development in the state’s dairy sector.

Ambitious Milk Production Targets

Atul Bora, the Minister of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary in Assam, revealed that the government has set an ambitious target of increasing daily milk production to 39 lakh litres in the state. The current production stands at 29 lakh litres per day, and the plan is to process an additional 10 lakh litres daily.

Making Assam Self-Sufficient in Dairy

Minister Bora emphasized the government’s vision to make Assam a self-sufficient state in both milk and egg production in the coming years. The collaborative efforts with NDDB aim to establish six mega plants within the state to further boost production and processing capabilities.

Initiatives for Dairy Sector Development

The Assam government has taken various initiatives for the development of the dairy sector in the state. Minister Bora highlighted the fact that around 95 percent of the total milk production in the state is currently unorganized.

Mega Milk Processing Plants

The Assam government has identified land at three locations to set up mega milk processing plants, each with a capacity of one lakh litres per day. These plants are part of the Assam Dairy Development Plan and will be established through a joint venture company of NDDB and the state government.

National Milk Day Celebrations

National Milk Day, celebrated on November 26, was marked in Guwahati this year. The event witnessed the presence of Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Parshottam Rupala, Arunachal Pradesh Minister, MPs, and other senior government officials.

Historical Agreement

In January of the previous year, the Assam government and NDDB signed a historic agreement to create a Rs 2,000-crore joint venture. The aim is to achieve holistic development in the state’s dairy sector, with a target to process 10 lakh litres of milk through six new units within seven years.

Bohag Bihu 2023

 Bohag Bihu is a seven-day festival of joy and abundance celebrated in Assam, a northeastern state of India. It is also known as Rongali Bihu or the spring festival, which signifies the onset of the seeding season. This year, Bohag Bihu will be celebrated from April 14-20, 2023. Let us dive deeper into this colorful festival and explore its various aspects.

Rongali Bihu: A Time for Joy and Happiness

Rongali Bihu is celebrated over 7 days and is one of the major festivals of Assam. It is a time for joy and happiness for the Assamese community, who celebrate it with great enthusiasm. The festival is celebrated with cultural programs, feasting, and exchanging gifts among family and friends.

The Seven Days of Bohag Bihu

Garu Bihu, the first day of Bohag Bihu, is dedicated to cattle. On this day, cows and bulls are bathed and decorated with flowers and vermilion. They are also fed special meals and offered prayers.

Manuh Bihu, the second day of Bohag Bihu, involves traditional baths and delicious food. People take a bath early in the morning with special herbs and enjoy traditional delicacies like pitha, laru, and doi.

Guxai Bihu, the third day of Bohag Bihu, is dedicated to worshipping household deities. People clean their houses and offer prayers to the deities.

Taator Bihu, the fourth day of Bohag Bihu, is celebrated for handlooms. On this day, women weave new clothes and offer them to the deities.

Nangolor Bihu, the fifth day of Bohag Bihu, is dedicated to farm equipment. People clean and decorate their farm equipment and offer prayers to the deities.

GharosiaJibar Bihu, the sixth day of Bohag Bihu, is celebrated for domestic animals. People clean and decorate their domestic animals and offer them special meals.

Chera Bihu, the final day of Bohag Bihu, is celebrated with much enthusiasm. People wear new clothes, visit their friends and relatives, and exchange gifts.

Traditional Musical Instruments of Bohag Bihu

Bohag Bihu celebrations are incomplete without traditional musical instruments like dhol, pepa, gogona, toka, and taal. The dhol is a large drum played with two sticks, while the pepa is a long trumpet made from buffalo horn. The gogona is a bamboo mouth organ, while the toka is a small drum played with a stick. The taal is a pair of cymbals.

World Record in Bihu Dance

On April 13 this year, Assam entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing the traditional Bihu dance at a single venue with more than 11,000 performers, including drummers and dancers, participating at the Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati. The traditional dance is performed especially during the Bohag Bihu. The event aimed to put Assam’s cultural heritage on the world map.

How is Assam faring on the TB eradication front?

 “My husband is a buddhu [illiterate],” 41-year-old Anita Bodo says through her tears. When she was diagnosed with tuberculosis in early 2021, her husband was thrown out of his job and he in turn nearly abandoned her. Such is the stigma of TB among the tribal people of Baksa district in north-western Assam that a patient and even his family face exclusion and loss of livelihood.

Baksa, one of the four districts of the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (since renamed as the Bodoland Territorial Region) formed in 2003 after the signing of the historic Bodoland Territorial Council accord, is home to a diverse group of people including Bodos, Nepalis, Bengalis, Adivasis working in tea gardens, Assamese, and Rajbongshis. The majority of them are poor and work as daily wage labourers, making them one of the most vulnerable populations.

As in other rural parts of the country, the lack of awareness and fear of contagion leads to the isolation of patients in their homes. Coughing up blood terrifies communities that are all too familiar with the symptoms of the illness. Most people are simply unaware that the disease ceases to be infectious after two weeks of treatment. Though there have not been many deaths, the stigma surrounding TB is enormous.

Social disease

As a result, tuberculosis has become a social disease. Apart from the physical seclusion of patients, families often keep separate utensils for them. Women are subjected to more stigma and discrimination than men. Anita battled the disease for a year with the help of her children and now wants to help others who are suffering from the social and physical impacts of TB.

When Frontline met her, she had cycled several kilometres from her village in Geruapara to the Adalbari State Dispensary to attend a tuberculosis care and support group meeting. She was joined by Bhabananda Das, 42, who lost his job after being diagnosed with TB. In his village of Athiyabari, seven persons contracted it simultaneously. “Because of the stigma people hid the fact that they had contracted the disease, which led to its rapid spread,” he said. According to the National TB Prevalence Survey, 2019-2021, as many as 312 per 100,000 population in India is afflicted with TB. In Assam, the figures are 217 per 100,000 population. “Our goal is to reduce the TB infection rate to 44 per lakh population by 2025 under the ongoing NTEP [National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme],” says Dr Avijit Basu, Joint Director and State TB Officer, Department of Health Services, Government of Assam.

The NTEP aims to eradicate TB in India by 2025. The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations call for the elimination of the global TB epidemic by 2035.

According to the WHO, India accounts for roughly one-fourth of the world’s TB burden. Close to 50,000 people die of the disease every year in India, where at the same time about a million cases are missed every year, says Dr Palash Talukdar, WHO Consultant, NTEP, Assam. Active testing is a key challenge in detecting TB. Community engagement at the grassroots level is one of the ways the government and NGOs are trying to accelerate the process of TB eradication. In order to reach out to people in their communities, TB champions such as Anita Bodo and Bhabananda Das use tools provided by Lakhya Jyoti Bhuyan, Prasenjit Das, and Dinesh Talukdar, foot soldiers of the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), an NGO that works on TB, adolescent health, maternal neonatal and child health, and primary healthcare. They identify a TB Buddy, who can be a caregiver or community member to provide support during each stage of the treatment. One of their objectives is to reduce the psychosocial impact of TB on patients by effecting behavioural changes.

Arjun Narzary, who works with the Inland Water Transport department in Guwahati, was fortunate to have a government job. He was granted medical leave for the period of treatment and has rejoined duty.

E-rickshaw driver Phukan Basumatary has made it his life’s mission to spread awareness about the disease. He travels from village to village, blaring instructional audio content about TB from his vehicle. He has defied the stigma of remaining silent about the disease by shouting it out from his rickshaw.

Controlling it

KHPT’s Breaking the Barriers project (2020-2024), supported by USAID, is in line with India’s National Strategic Plan for TB elimination. “Elimination does not mean there will be zero cases of TB but that the disease will be under control. By 2025, our aim is to minimise the TB caseload,” says Dr Avijit Basu.

In Baramchari, a picturesque little village in Baksa, dozens of women finish their daily chores to settle under a canopy of trees to discuss how to combat the monster of TB. Members of a self-help group, they say that detection has gone up ever since their group got actively engaged with TB awareness. “We have so far detected four cases of TB in our villages. We make sure that there is no ostracisation of patients. We have more TB cases because of a lack of testing. People here work hard as daily wage labourers and can seldom afford nutritious food. And then they also drink the local liquor. A combination of these factors compromises their immunity and they get TB,” says Reena Rabha of Lokpala village, a leader of the group.

Apart from the tribal community of Baksa, the tea garden workers of Dibrugarh, mining populations, industrial workers, and urban migrants are among the most vulnerable groups. Urban migrants are vulnerable primarily because of their unhygienic living conditions, tobacco use, and a lack of proper nutrition. Suman Phukan, a community coordinator with the KHPT, works with such groups in Guwahati and the Kamrup Metropolitan district. She is the first point of contact for the Bihari and Muslim migrant labourers who live in the Sitlabari Railway Colony slum.

She tells the story of Sunil Peshwan, who was diagnosed with pulmonary TB for the third time at the age of 28. After his wife left him, Sunil had no one to look after him and he discontinued his medication. Members of the local Gajraj club volunteered to look after him, but when it became too much for them, they admitted him to a hospital. Sunil ran away from there.

When the club members tried to get re-admit him, the hospital authorities refused, citing the lack of a primary care giver. When Suman learned of Sunil’s deteriorating condition, she had him admitted to a Missionaries of Charity home, which had a TB unit on its premises. When Frontline met Sunil on the day of his release from the centre, he had lost a lot of weight, but had recovered and was willing to take care of himself.

Another vulnerable area identified by the KHPT is the localities around the famous Kamakhya temple in Guwahati. Members of two self-help groups, Muktinath and Kuhipat, have prioritised TB detection in this area.

Only time will tell whether these efforts by communities, governments and NGOs will be successful in eliminating TB. In her landmark book Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History, Vidya Krishnan sounds a word of caution. Narrating the history of TB from the days of the vampire panics that led to Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror novel Dracula to the discovery of modern medicine and penicillin, Vidya asks readers to be cautious about reducing the stories of patients to mere numbers and targets. She emphasises the links between social inequalities and disease and how sometimes urban building laws can act as institutionalised incubators of deadly drug-resistant bacteria.

She writes, “No amount of aid is going to save us from ever-evolving pathogens unless we fix the superstructures of global health at their structural root. TB and humans have evolved hand in hand. During the course of this relationship, the bacteria has learned from us more than we have from it. One bad decision at a time, the global TB pandemic has been socially constructed by us—humans who are reliably small-minded, casteist, and racist every time we face a pathogen that is highly unpredictable, mutating and thriving. The fundamental question here is not whether the pathogen will prevail. It is whether individual decency—that encourages us to fight for the right to health and the right to dignity for the poor and vulnerable—will prevail. There lies our salvation. No one is safe until everyone is.”

DIVYA TRIVEDISource: FRONTLINE.THEHINDU.COM, 22/06/22

Assam Achieves Zero Poaching of Endangered Rhinos

 For the first time in nearly 45 years, Assam recorded zero poaching of endangered rhinos in 2022. These animals, known for their valuable horns, were poached 191 times in Assam between 2000 and 2021. The highest number of incidents occurred in 2013 and 2014, with 27 rhino deaths each reported. In 2020 and 2021, two rhinos were killed each year. The last time no poaching was reported in Assam was in 1977.

Coordinated Efforts by State Departments

Officials attribute the success in reducing rhino poaching to the sincere, concerted, and coordinated efforts of the state’s forest and police departments. Upon taking office in May 2021, the special director general of police (law and order), G P Singh, made it a priority to implement zero tolerance towards rhino poaching. In June 2021, a special task force was created with Singh as its head and 22 senior police and forest department officials, including chief wildlife warden MK Yadava.

Previously, the forest and police departments worked independently to address wildlife crimes such as poaching. The task force was established to coordinate the fight against poachers. Yadava reported that the coordinated efforts have been effective, stating, “We have intelligence both from forest and police sources about activities and movements of poachers, which helps in action against them.”

Database and Use of Technology

The task force compiled a database of past incidents of rhino poaching, including details of when, how, and where they occurred. Information was also collected on the entry and exit points used by poachers to access Kaziranga, Manas, Orang, and Pobitora, as well as the identities of all criminals associated with rhino poaching. The task force used this information to take tough action against poachers, including the deployment of armed commandos and the use of technology, such as drones and dog squads, to track poachers’ movements.

Assam’s One-Horned Rhino Population

Assam is home to nearly 2,900 one-horned rhinos, making it the largest habitat for this vulnerable species. According to the State of the Rhinos Report 2022, the total population of one-horned rhinos, found only in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, is 4,012. Poaching has long been a concern in Assam’s national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, with poachers linked to international wildlife parts smuggling gangs responsible for 191 rhino deaths since 2000. In 2014 and 2015, the highest number of poaching incidents occurred, with 17 each year. The number of rhinos killed decreased in subsequent years, with 18 in 2016 and only one in 2021.

Government Commitment to Zero Poaching

The BJP-led government, which was reelected in May 2021, made a commitment to achieving zero poaching. This issue was also raised in the election manifestos of the Congress party and other political parties. In June 2021, the state government established a 22-member task force headed by GP Singh and deployed armed commandos to vigilantly and strictly combat poachers. The task force included senior forest officers and SPs from 11 districts and six wildlife divisions, as well as armed commandos from the police and state forest personnel. These resources were deployed in the core areas of rhino habitats, including Kaziranga, Manas, Orang, and Pobitora. The use of drones and dog squads helped to track poachers and bring them to justice.

Delimitation of Constituencies in Assam

 The Election Commission of India (ECI) recently announced that it had commenced the process of delimitation of state assembly and parliamentary constituencies of Assam. The last delimitation in Assam happened in 1976. The current delimitation exercise is being conducted based on the 1971 Census.

What is the delimitation exercise?

• Delimitation is the process of redrawing boundaries of state assembly seats and the Lok Sabha seats to represent the changing population numbers.
• The main purpose of the delimitation exercise is to ensure equal representation to equal segments of a population.
• Since the population does not increase uniformly, delimitation reflects the changes in the distribution of the population over a period of time.
• In Assam, the population stood at 1.46 crore in 1971. In 2001, it has increased to 2.66 crore. The population did not increase uniformly across all areas of the state.

What is Delimitation Commission?

• The Delimitation Commission is an independent commission responsible for conducting delimitation exercises.
• It is set up by the Central Government under the Delimitation Commission Act.
• This commission jointly works with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct the delimitation.
• It includes a retired Supreme Court Judge, the Chief Election Commissioner and the respective state’s State Election Commissioners
• It functions without any executive influence. Its orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as such actions would postpone elections indefinitely.

How is delimitation carried out?

Article 82 of the Constitution requires the Indian Parliament to enact a Delimitation Act after every Census. Once this Act is in force, the Central Government must set up a Delimitation Commission.

The Delimitation Commission is required to determine the number and boundaries of constituencies in such a way that the population of all seats are same, as far as it is possible. It is also tasked with the identification of seats reserved for SCs and STs.