Assam Requires a Think-Tank of Experts to Drive Sustainable Economy: Opinion

BY: AXOMSON

In order to achieve self-sustainable economy in Assam, there is a need of a think-tank comprising various domain experts to facilitate international market exposure, introduce and adopt new technology etc.

It is a well-known fact that the people of Assam have never been given their legal and constitutional rights by any government. The people had to snatch them away by taking the path of different movements or revolutionary struggle. Be it the Assam movement, the Bhaxha Andolan before that, the freedom struggle or the armed struggles of ULFA, NDFB and other insurgent groups, the common folk has continued to suffer a lot for its needs and the one thing that has taken a continuous battering is Assam’s economy.

The people in-charge of the economy of the state have continued to tape the fissures in the economy with developmental policies that have no long term impact. Certain section of the civil society thus believes that the need of the hour is not just a political answer to the threats posed to the Assamese public but to establish a school of thought that can act as a strong support to this answer as well. A few such like-minded people got together to form the Assam People’s Action Committee (APAC).

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At a press conference held on the 11^th of February, 2020 Convener Abhijit Kamal Bhuyan gave the outlook of having a self-sustainable state economy and in order to achieve such self-sustainable state economy, there is a need of a think-tank comprising various domain experts to facilitate international market exposure, introduce and adopt new technology etc.

Through APAC, they wish to assemble such domain experts in a single, unified platform to think, brainstorm, debate and formulate policies in regard to the socio-economic growth of the state and act as a forum for exchange of ideas between such a think-tank and the government machinery.

Another member of the convening committee, Dibyajyoti Baruah, who is an established farmer and fishery business entrepreneur gave insights about the ongoing 1200 bigha fishery project in Nalbari Mukalmuwa and Agricultural farming in Nagaon Kathiatoli. He also emphasized that the state economy can be built independently by focusing on agriculture based production along with fishery/poultry farming for which Assam already has enough land and conducive environment. It also resolves the unemployment issue to a great extent.

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The primary responsibility of this think-tank is to find ways to strengthen and build an independ­ent economy for the state and its people. It aims to achieve this by channelizing various national and international markets for every viable domestically produced agriculture, handloom, handicrafts and other indigenous products as well as by formulating policies and framework to address the unemployment issue by exploring and generating more and more opportunities in these sectors.

Dr. Simanta Sharma, an established healthcare expert mentioned that a huge share of the Assam's rural GDP gets wasted in basic health related issues, expensive doctor consultation, expensive diagnostics, medicines and transportation and thus, the state’s health sector needs to be streamlined and built as a self-containing machinery.

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The committee also emphasized on involving more and more young engineers to research and adopt locally available indigenous technology as well as technologies from the nearby countries of Assam to be implemented in developing the state infrastructure. Their vision is to enhance the indigenous eco-friendly technology to an international standard and thus open a huge channel of revenue flow. Beyond this, they also mentioned the possibility of utilizing the human resource in the security and hospitality sector, catering to its basic and intermediate needs.

There is no doubt that APAC’s approach towards solving the long lasting issues of Assam by using assessment and foresight is a novel one that not many have thought about. The fact that the people are very much unaware of their problems now or in the future is the prime reason behind the CAA protests fizzling out in Assam right now. To make them capable enough to preserve their rights, the steps must be taken to uproot all hurdles. Only if the people become economically independent and collectively contribute to the eco­nomic growth of the state will help themselves will they be able to secure their future.

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