Durga Puja gift to puja pandals: Assam Govt to give Rs 10,000 to each of 6,953 pandals

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Assam Cabinet today

In some good news for the Durga Puja committees of Assam, the state government has decided to give Rs 10,000 to each of the 6,953 puja pandals across the state.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Assam Cabinet today.

The Cabinet also approved the laying of foundation stones for 400 new school buildings, including 100 completely new schools in tea garden areas. Additionally, older school buildings will be renovated with an allocation of Rs 7 crore per school. The foundation stones for these projects will be laid between December 25, 2023, and January 10, 2024.

The cabinet ministers will spend five days and five nights in specific villages. These villages will be chosen from different zones, and during their stay, the ministers will assess the practical implementation of welfare schemes and the level of progress in these schemes.

The cabinet has also decided to provide relief to indigenous, landless families. The government will settle land in favour of 123 indigenous, landless farmers, comprising 105 families in Charaideo and 18 families in Darrang for homestead purposes under Mission Basundhara 2.0.

The cabinet aims to strengthen the financial health of the Assam Financial Corporation by converting an outstanding loan amount of Rs 54 crore and outstanding interest of Rs 10.92 crore as of March 31, 2023, into equity capital. This move will enable the corporation to continue its lending operations in various sectors and achieve self-sustainability.

Additionally, doctors under the Health Department will be given the option to choose Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) once every five years of service starting from January 1, 2024. This initiative will incentivize doctors to provide quality care without worrying about their private practice’s financial impact.

The cabinet has also decided to reorganize the administrative units of the Irrigation Department to align with the delimitation of Legislative Assembly Constituencies by the Election Commission of India.

Lastly, a uniform retirement date has been set for Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers in mini Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). They will relinquish their services on April 30 of the year after turning 60, and their services will be discontinued accordingly.

The cabinet also aprroved the holiday list for state government employees in 2024. Here’s a breakdown of the holidays:

Gazette Holidays: 36 days
Restricted Holidays: 30 days
Half Holidays: 2 days

District Collectors (DCs) are allowed to declare one day as a local holiday, which holds local significance. However, this option is not available in Kamrup (Metro) district. The General Administration Department can declare two days as local holidays specifically in Kamrup (Metro) district.

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