Assam staring at demographic crisis, native youth vanishing from universities: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday raised an urgent red flag over the state’s declining student population, warning that demographic shifts and a sharp fall in birth rates among certain communities are threatening the future of educational institutions across the state.

In a detailed message posted on X (formerly Twitter), the Chief Minister said, “Assam is facing a unique challenge. Due to demographic changes and population decline, fewer students from our community are enrolling in universities. Our agenda for 2026–2031 is to reimagine educational opportunities in Assam.”

Drawing from analytics on the state’s Samar portal, Sarma highlighted that rural colleges are witnessing a dramatic fall in student enrolment. Although there is a slight shift towards urban centres, he cautioned that “even that is not very encouraging.” The CM warned that districts such as Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, and Lakhimpur could soon witness a complete drain of students. “In five years, we might not find students at all,” he said.

Sarma also underlined a broader socio-demographic trend where families that once had multiple children now opt for only one. “If you do a survey around Dibrugarh University, you’ll find almost every household has just one child,” he said, stressing that the university may soon have to attract students from outside the state or from specific regions like the riverine chars to fill its newly constructed 500-bed hostel.

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He warned that the state is “running out of young manpower” and urged universities to introspect and adapt. “Our educational institutes must remain relevant and meaningful. Reinvention is the only way forward,” Sarma said, suggesting alternative career-oriented training, such as stock market skills, in place of saturated disciplines like political science.

“If 30 students should be admitted in political science and you admit 200, then where will the jobs come from?” he questioned, blaming outdated academic models for aggravating unemployment.

In a telling remark, the Chief Minister added that Assam no longer has underground natural resources to depend on, and thus, “we cannot afford to lose even a single human resource.” He recalled how maternity wards in hospitals like Dibrugarh once overflowed with expectant mothers—now, he said, even large hospitals report low birth rates.

“In Sivasagar, we don’t have enough mothers now to give birth,” he noted. “In Guwahati Medical College, if you exclude patients from Barpeta or Dhubri, the number of locals has drastically declined.”

Sarma urged the academic community to undertake data-driven analysis, considering variables like religion and district, to better understand the demographic transformation. He warned that if left unaddressed, the next 5 to 10 years may push the indigenous Assamese population into an irreversible manpower crisis.

As Assam heads toward its next Assembly elections in 2026, the CM’s statements signal a call for a major policy reset—one that combines population awareness, educational reform, and strategic workforce planning to secure the state’s future.