Himanta slams Congress for ‘anti-Assam’ stand in Parliament

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of adopting an “anti-Assam attitude” after they allegedly disrupted proceedings in Parliament when Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced a Bill to establish the State’s first Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

Sarma, in a strong statement, said that when the Union Minister rose to lay the Bill, the Congress-led Opposition attempted to obstruct the process by shouting and creating disorder inside the House.

“I strongly condemn this anti-Assam stance of INC India and wholeheartedly congratulate Pradhan ji for standing firm and not yielding to their pressure,” the Chief Minister said.

The proposed IIM will be the first in Assam, a move seen as a significant step in boosting higher education and management studies in the State.

Also Read: IIM Guwahati gains push for national importance status with new bill in Lok Sabha

Notably, a bill to include the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Guwahati in the schedule of the Indian Institutes of Management Act, thereby declaring it an institution of national importance, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the bill amid uproar by the opposition over the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

According to the draft law, the central government, the Assam government, and representatives of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) signed a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) for the all-round development of the state.

Under the MoS, several developmental projects are to be implemented by the Union government through a Special Development Package (SDP). Establishing an IIM at Guwahati as an institution of national importance is one of the key projects under this package.