Assam Government to Hike Bus Fares by 25%

Guwahati, October 22, 2019:

The Assam Cabinet on Monday decided to hike bus fares in the State by 25%. This was confirmed in a communique issued from the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's public relations cell.

Reacting to this development, Dhruba Jyoti Das, a Guwahati city bus-conductor, told Inside Northeast, "I came to know about this development earlier today. Don't know whether to be happy or sad. I think the outcome will depend on the public. There was a recent hike in fares, so if the fares are raised against, it might inconvenience some stratas of the public."

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The Assam Cabinet on Monday evening also decided to make government jobs out of bounds for people with more than two children, as per the Government’s two-child policy. This decision was taken two years after the 126-member Assam Assembly adopted a population policy. This new policy will come into effect from January 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also adopted a new land policy that will make the landless indigenous people eligible for 3 bighas (43,200 sq. ft.) of land for farming and half a bigha for constructing a house. However, the beneficiary can sell the land only after 15 years of use.

“New Land Policy was adopted. Three bighas of land will be given to landless indigenous people. Landless people will be offered half a bigha to construct their houses. These cannot be sold for 15 years,” the Assam Chief Minister’s official statement said.

It may be mentioned here that in September 2017, the Assam Assembly had passed the ‘Population and Women Empowerment Policy of Assam’ that specified that job candidates with two children only would be eligible for government employment and the existing government staff were to strictly follow the two children family norm.

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