‘Lasting peace must for development’

The need for lasting peace in Assam and sustained development in different spheres was stressed in the official State function celebrating the 59th Republic Day in Assam. In the function at Judge’s Field, Governor, Lt General (Retd) Ajai Singh, unfurled the tricolour and inspected the guard of honour. Among the dignitaries who attended the function were the Chief Minister, his ministers and other senior officials of administration, police and armed forces. In his address the Governor outlined the various achievements of his Government and also underlined the attempts to bring in changes in quite a few areas.

Referring to the extremist problem besetting the State and he said, “Despite violence perpetrated by insurgent groups, the internal security scenario in Assam during the last year has shown considerable improvement compared to the beginning of the year.”

He urged the extremist groups to shun violence and come forward for talks with the Government “within the framework of the Indian Constitution”.

Singh asserted that the State Government was making “sincere efforts to speed up the process of implementation of various clauses of the Assam Accord.” To increase the pace of detection of foreigners 21 additional Foreigners’ Tribunal has been set up.

Significantly, he stated that scanning of the NRC 1951 and the Electoral Rolls up to 1971 was nearing completion. Work on border fencing and roads were also progressing, he added.

A substantial part of his address was devoted to developments in education with he mentioning the passing of the Assam Private University Act, 2007, the setting up of the KK Handique State Open University, staff of provincialised colleges brought under the Government fold and special assistance being paid to the Engineering colleges and universities. In the field of Secondary education the Governor referred to Rs 22 crore being released for upgrading one Higher Secondary/High School in each of the 219 development blocks as Model School. Financial assistance of Rs 88 crore was provided to 716 non-governmental educational institutions, he added.

On developments in Elementary education he noted that 2,662 schools were provided with drinking and sanitation facilities and 29,634 primary schools with learning aids. Attempts to create employment opportunities also figured in the address with the Governor stating that 1,67,000 jobs would become available in a span of three years. Another achievement referred to was 1,42,000 Self Help Groups being formed including 87,227 for women. Mention was made of the Assam Gas Cracker Project the foundation of which was laid by the Prime Minister on April 9 last year and the new North East Industrial Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIP) 2007 announced by the Government of India. Significantly, the Governor’s address did not deal with the State’s stagnant agricultural sector in much detail compared to some other issues. “The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) aims at achieving two per cent annual growth in the agricultural sector during the 11th plan period in the State…” he remarked.

Efforts to create an investor friendly climate in Assam were underlined in the Governors address with references made to the Chief Minister’s foreign visits to the US and UK. According to Singh, “the meetings have evoked a favourable response, and some foreign investors have shown interest in sectors such as waterways, power from biogas, real estate and tourism.” However, the address stopped short of revealing specific and tangible gains made by the visits.

The official function at Guwahati witnessed parades by several contingents of the police, paramilitary forces, NCC and scouts and guides. The rich culture of the State was also showcased with performance by various troupes. An IAF helicopter flying low from the South showered flower petals on the gathering as the tricolour flew in its glory.

People throng R-Day function in Dhemaji

GUWAHATI, Jan 27 – The memory of the gruesome killing of 13 women and children in a blast during the Independence Day celebration in 2004 is still haunting the people of Dhemaji district, but this year, persuaded by the district administration, a large number of students actively participated in the Republic Day programme in the district by defying the call given by the ULFA to boycott the function. For three years since the gruesome incident, the students of Dhemaji stayed away from the Republic and Independence Day programmes as the fear lingered in the minds of students and guardians, and the National Day celebrations turned out to be totally official affairs and lasted for only minutes with the dignitaries hurriedly hoisting the National Flag.

But this year, Dhemaji witnessed a totally different scene with active participation of students, while, a large number of people also turned out to enjoy the cultural function organized on the occasion of the Republic Day. The only negative aspect of the programme in Dhemaji was that no Minister turned up to hoist the National Tricolour.

The Dhemaji Deputy Commissioner, D Mishra said that the district administration this year decided to encourage the students to come to the parade ground to enjoy the Republic Day and held a meeting with the Principals and Head Masters of schools and the DI of schools on January 10. The meeting decided to appeal to the guardians to send their wards to the parade ground to actively participate in the programme. At the initial stages, everyone was apprehensive as no one could forget the gruesome killing in 2004, but gradually the students and guardians started responding in a positive way and the team of the NCC cadets of Dhemaji College was the first to report to participate for the parade. That opened the floodgates and later teams from the Dhemaji Boys’ Higher Secondary School, Dhemaji Girls’ Higher Secondary School and Town High School also came forward to participate in the parade.

The district administration also arranged a cultural programme on the occasion and the active participation of the students drew the guardians and common people to the parade ground. The students performed a variety of programmes including Bihu dance and other traditional dance forms of different ethnic groups including Deuri dance, Nepali dance, Bodo dance, Satriya dance, Jyoti Sangeet etc and the programme lasted for more than two hours. The participants also paid homage to the women and children killed on the Independence Day in 2004 by paying floral tributes in the memorial column constructed in their memory and the family members of the unfortunate victims of mindless act of killing also took part in the programme.

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