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
