Assam govt to give Rs 1 lakh to 1,000 farmers; announces youth welfare department, file-clearance drive

The Assam government will honour 1,000 progressive and educated farmers with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each this year as part of efforts to attract more educated youth towards agriculture, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday, August 17.

Speaking during a live interaction, Sarma said the Chief Minister’s Agriculture Excellence Award would recognise progressive and educated farmers and encourage more young people to take up agriculture.

“We must also attract educated youth towards agriculture. Therefore, we have decided to honour 1,000 progressive and educated farmers this year with the Chief Minister’s Agriculture Excellence Award, with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each. They will also be introduced to various government schemes related to farming and agriculture. We will recognise 10,000 farmers over the next five years,” he said.

The initiative will focus on modernising agriculture, strengthening research and helping farmers become more productive and self-reliant.

Sarma also announced plans to create a dedicated Youth Welfare Department, bringing the National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), employment exchanges and youth-related initiatives in the education sector under one department.

The department is expected to be launched around September 17, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. The government said the department would coordinate various programmes and schemes aimed at benefiting young people.

Sarma also announced a proposed measure to provide financial support to women abandoned by government employees without a legal divorce.

He said if a government employee abandons his first wife without legally divorcing her and enters into another marriage, 20% of his salary would be deducted and deposited directly into the first wife’s bank account upon her application to the government.

The measure would be accompanied by departmental proceedings and stringent action against government employees involved in polygamy, he said.

Sarma also recalled an earlier initiative under which 10% of the salary of government employees who abandoned their parents was transferred to their parents. He described the initiative as successful.

The Assam government will launch Project Sadbhavana 2 from October 2 to January 31 to identify and dispose of pending government files, Sarma said.

He said more than three lakh files were pending across government departments, directorates and Deputy Commissioner offices, although some involved routine matters.

Under the initiative, citizens will be able to report pending files through a portal. Their cases will be referred to the concerned district administration or directorate for necessary action.

Sarma said the government had undertaken a similar exercise in 2021, when files were maintained manually. The introduction of the e-file system would now allow the government to track and analyse pending files more accurately, he said.

The government has assigned responsibilities to officials for the exercise and will assess the number of files disposed of after the programme concludes.