Assam to have DC offices in all 126 Assembly constituencies: Himanta Biswa Sarma

The Assam government is considering reorganising its administrative structure in order to relieve deputy commissioners of mundane tasks by decentralising authority from the district to the constituency level.

Assam has 31 administrative districts and 126 Assembly constituencies. 

According to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state government is working towards setting up ‘DC offices’ in all 126 constituencies.

The Assam government is deliberating on reworking its administrative set-up to free deputy commissioners from routine work by decentralising powers from the district level to the constituency level.

Also Read: Assam Cabinet approves key policies for district officials, appraisal criteria for DCs and fund for Tinsukia Medical College

“There will be DC offices in all 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam and each will have an Additional Deputy Commissioner. And they will do all the work. People will need not come to the district headquarters for any work, there will be a district in every constituency,” he said, speaking to the media in Guwahati.

"The matter will be discussed in detail during a three-day DC conference which is scheduled to be held in Tinsukia on May 12-14."  - he further said.

In a weekly meeting of the Assam Cabinet, the state government has approved several key policies for maintaining the strength of district officials and promoting governance at the grassroots level. The Cabinet also approved criteria for performance appraisal of District Commissioners (DCs) and a 3 per cent increment for contractual employees of 5 mini ITIs under the Skill, Employment & Entrepreneurship department.

The new policy for district officials aims to maintain district teams throughout the year, thereby promoting administration and governance closer to the people. The policy also outlines a process for releasing officers intending to proceed on long leaves and under regular orders of transfer without impacting the district team structure. The number of ADCs, SDOS, and Assistant Commissioners in each district will also be fixed as per size, requirements, and complexities.