Assam Cabinet decides to make public findings of panel on civil service exam 'scam' in Congress regime

The Assam Cabinet on Tuesday decided to make public the findings of the committee which had looked into alleged anomalies and malpractices in the state civil service recruitment examinations for two years during the previous Congress regime, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The findings of the report will be placed in the state assembly to "inform the people on the extent of corruption and malpractices" during the previous government, he said.

Sarma shared the decisions of the Cabinet meeting chaired by him on X and said the two-member inquiry commission headed by Justice (rtd) BK Sarma had looked into the allegations of malpractice in the conduct of Combined Competitive Examinations (CEE) 2013 and CEE 2014 by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

The committee submitted its reports and pointed out "glaring anomalies and malpractices resorted to by the beneficiaries and the perpetrators in conduct of CEE 2013 by APSC which was beyond imagination", he said.

"In the larger public interest, the Cabinet has approved making the findings of the report public and to be placed in the Assam Legislative Assembly to inform the people of Assam on the extent of corruption and malpractices that were prevalent in APSC during the previous dispensation,” Sarma said.

In other decisions, the council of ministers accorded administrative approval to set up a scheme to ensure round-the-clock water supply to the Tata semiconductor assembly and testing plant coming up in Jagiroad.

The project will be carried out by the Public Health Engineering Department and will cater to both the industrial and residential requirements of the plant.

Also Read: Assam: NIA recovers 'live' IED from Lakhimpur

The cumulative cost of the project will be Rs 121.36 crore, including operation and maintenance for 10 years, and water will be sourced from the Kopili river with a capacity of 12.5 million litres per day.

The project is expected to be completed by July 2025, the chief minister added.

He further said the Cabinet green-lighted a proposal for procurement of 200 MW power from the Kalai II Hydro Electric Project of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd to meet the growing energy demands of the state.

The levelised tariff for procurement of power from the project will be Rs 5.46 per unit, which is significantly lower than the average rate of power purchase in 2022-23.

“The decision will help in meeting energy requirements as well as aid in fulfilling renewable power purchase obligation,” Sarma said.

The Cabinet also approved the renaming of ‘sub-districts’, which will be operational from October 4, as ‘co-districts’, to be headed by a "co-district commissioner".

The council of ministers also gave its nod to provide scooters to 48,673 students for 2024 at a cost of Rs 345.74 crore under the Banikanta Kakati Merit Award of the Pragyan Bharati Scheme.

The scheme entails scooters for girl students of class 12 who scored 60 per cent and above (girl students) and 75 per cent and above for boys.