The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Tuesday proposed forming a grand alliance of all the "anti-BJP political parties" at a national level to fight against Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Culture is the mirror of society, said Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday in his address at the 7th Chimera of Amrapali (Society for Arts), a leading socio-cultural organization in the North East in association with Government of Assam at South Point School, Guwahati.

Guwahati Mar 30 PTI The Assam Assembly on Wednesday passed an amendment bill to increase its debt to Gross State Domestic Product GSDP ratio to 32 per cent and enhance the additional borrowing ceiling by 050 per cent of GSDP The Assam Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management AFRBM Amendment Bill 2022 was passed by voice vote after the Congress AIUDF and lone Independent MLA in the House staged a walkout protesting against the rise in government loans With the passage of the bill the Debt to GSDP ratio has been increased to 32 per cent from the existing 285 per cent for the next five financial years beginning from 2022-23 The additional borrowing ceiling has also been enhanced by 050 per cent of GSDP over and above the prescribed limit of 4 per cent for 2022-23 to 2024-25 which would be linked to power sector reforms through the amendment billFinance Minister Ajanta Neog moving the Bill maintained that the increase in the debt ratio and ceiling on borrowing was in the interest of the state Speaking against the amendment bill Opposition Congress MLA Bharat Narah maintained that the state has been able to achieve its target in only one out of the four parameters affixed for increasing borrowings Out of ease of doing business power reforms one nation one ration card and urban body reforms the state government has completed only the first clause he claimed Narah said the government should concentrate on decreasing expenditure rather than increasing loans AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam and Independent legislator Akhil Gogoi too voiced their opposition to the increased borrowings Neog in her response maintained that the state government was working within the permissible limits of the Central government She also assured the House that the additional funds will be used only for capital expenditure Not satisfied with the governments response the Opposition staged a walkout The Assembly also passed several other bills PTI SSG NN NN

Guwahati Mar 30 PTI Congress MLA Nurul Huda was on Wednesday suspended from the Assam Assembly for some time after he shouted against Speaker Biswajit Daimary who during the Question Hour had directed him to ask his query stopping a lengthy prelude to itAs he did not leave the House even after being suspended marshals dragged him out All members of the opposition party then staged a walkout Earlier Daimary repeatedly asked Huda to ask his supplementary question regarding his primary query on election to cooperative societies instead of making a long statement Sir I am trying to explain the problem Huda said Dont explain please ask the question the Speaker responded When Huda continued to make an explanation as a prelude to his query Daimary moved to Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha to ask another supplementary question Purkayastha urged the Speaker to allow Huda to ask the question but Daimary did not accept his appeal Aggrieved by this Huda started shouting against the Speaker who then suspended the Congress legislator from the House for the duration of the Question Hour Huda then went to the well from where marshals then dragged him out of the House Following this all the Congress MLAs staged a walkout At the end of the Question Hour the Speaker revoked the suspension and all the Congress legislators including Huda entered the House for the remaining procedures of the day PTI TR NN NN

Guwahati Mar 28 PTI The Opposition parties on Monday staged a walkout in the Assam Assembly after the Speaker disallowed their demand for discussion on an adjournment motion over the issue of price riseLeader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia tried to raise the adjournment motion at the end of the Question HourSpeaker Biswajit Daimary said though he had received the notice for the adjournment motion from the Congress it was delayedAs per rule the notice must be given at least one hour before the House assembles The notice was received at 835 am whereas the House begins from 930 am Daimary said Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi of Raijor Dal contended that he had also given notice for adjournment motion on the same issue well in time for taking up the discussion on MondayInitially the Speaker said he will allow discussion on admissibility of the motion on Tuesday but immediately added that it will not be possible even on that day as business has already been fixedThe Congress AIUDF CPI M and Raijor Dal MLAs started raising slogans like stop price rise and BJP government hai haiThey also displayed placards and stormed into the well of the HouseAs the Speaker continued with the proceedings the Opposition parties walked out of the House PTI SSG MM MM

Guwahati Mar 21 PTI Shortly after BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia referring to a film claimed on Monday that a situation akin to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits might happen in Assam as Muslims are in majority in many parts Congress legislator Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha retorted stating that films on torture endured by people over the NRC issue should also be madeDuring a discussion in the Assembly over state Budget for 2022-23 Purkayastha said it was rather important that a film be made on the plight of doubtful voters and the state of detention centresThe National Register of Citizens NRC is a document containing names of the countrys citizens An updated list was released in 2019 which had names of over 31 lakh people out of more 33 lakh applicants Many were deemed as illegal foreignersSaikia while referring to the content of newly released Bollywood film Kashmir Files said Assam can be divided in three parts -- lower middle and upper Muslims are in majority in lower and middle Assam In upper Assam they are not in majority Benefits meant for minorities dont reach the Muslims of upper Assam he notedCiting Census of 2011 Saikia asserted that the community was in the majority in nine districts with some of the sub-divisions having over 75 per cent Muslim populationIn Kashmir Files we saw that Hindus were the minority community in Kashmir they faced torture and were made to leave homes We need to take steps so such situation does not arise in Assam he addedPurakayastha in reply said many people in the state have suffered due to the policies of the BJP government and a film on their predicaments should get madeIn all 148 people have died due to the torture and harassment over the foreigner issue I personally visited the houses of 130-135 people as an MLA and have seen the fear among them We can make Assam Files NRC Files D-Voter files Detention files and many such movies All these people died due to the wrong policies of the BJP government which in its first budget had promised to implement the Assam Accord in letter and spirit but later did not make any mention of it Purkayastha said adding this years budget was directionlessTaking exception to Saikias remark AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam said enquiries should be conducted in Nellie massacre Bansbari attack and Malegaon blastsKashmir Files does not show that houses of many Muslims were also evacuated in Kashmir It is the prime ministers job to enquire and punish the guilty he addedTalking about the Budget Islam said it was more of a lecture on political science and historyIndependent MLA Akhil Gogoi said the Budget for 2022-23 does not have any vision for the future despite the fact that the state was passing through a critical economic phaseThe government has become a power-hungry Hindutva force which has surrendered itself in front of the corporate The state government on the other hand has fully surrendered before the Centre he addedAssam Finance Minister Ajanta Neog on March 16 presented a Rs 60036-crore deficit budget for the 2022-23 financial year and proposed a green tax on all old vehicles to discourage people from using them as these are detrimental to the environmentShe also said that the government would hike the rates of various services such as licence fees for liquor shops in urban areas royalty on forest produce and entry tickets in national parksWelcoming the budget ruling alliance members -- AGPs Ramendra Narayan Kalita and UPPLs Gobinda Chandra Basumatary -- termed the annual financial document as balanced development-oriented and hopeful PTI TR RMS RMS

Guwahati Mar 21 PTI The Opposition staged a walkout in the Assam Assembly on Monday over alleged horse trading of MLAs by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha pollsAs soon as the House assembled in the morning the Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress said the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the ruling BJP were indulging in undemocratic practices by allegedly trying to buy MLAs to win both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam for which elections will be held on March 31Speaker Biswajit Daimary tried to pacify the Opposition and requested them to allow continuance of the Question Hour but his pleas fell on deaf earsThe chief minister on Sunday had claimed that suspended Congress MLA Sashi Kanta Das will vote for BJP-led NDA candidates during the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in the state after a meeting with himThis is being done to weaken the Opposition and democracy Saikia said adding the chief minister allegedly said all Congress and opposition MLAs are ready to join the BJPThe treasury bench strongly opposed this resulting in a noisy situation inside the House The opposition started shouting slogans and waved placards with slogansThe opposition comprising the Congress AIUDF CPIM and the Raijor Dal moved to the well of the House and shouted slogans like Save Democracy Wont Allow Death of Democracy Inquilab Zindabad Follow Constitution and Jai Aai Asom among othersThese were countered by BJP MLAs with shouts of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Shree RamYou opposition please sit down and discuss the issue Only then we can solve it Theres no problem in discussing the issue in the House The Rajya Sabha polls will be held as per rule Daimary saidAfter continuously shouting slogans inside the well of the House for 35 minutes during which the Question Hour continued members of the four opposition parties staged a walkout from the AssemblyThe BJP has nominated Pabitra Margherita as its candidate for one seat while United Peoples Party Liberals UPPL working president Rwngwra Narzary was named for the second seatThe two seats for which elections are due are currently held by Ripun Bora and Ranee Narah of the Congress Bora is in the fray this time as the Opposition parties joint candidateThe ruling coalition stands comfortably poised to get one of its candidates easily elected though it may fall short by a couple of votes if the Opposition votes as a bloc for its lone nominee so farOut of seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam the BJP currently holds three and Congress two BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad AGP has one member in the Upper House while the remaining one is held by an IndependentThe BJPs strength in the 126-member Assam Assembly is 63 while its allies AGP has nine and UPPL has seven MLAsIn the opposition camp the Congress strength is 27 All India United Democratic Front AIUDF has 15 members Bodoland Peoples Front BPF has three and CPIM has one MLAs There is also one Independent MLA PTI TR MM MM

Guwahati Dec 24 PTI Concerns over use of vernacular or main language of an area for imparting education at the primary level under the National Education Policy NEP 2020 in multilingual states and infrastructure shortcomings were voiced by Opposition legislators in the Assam Assembly on Friday during a discussion on the NEP They also urged for more deliberations on the NEP rather than hastily implementing it Education Minister Ranoj Pegu however sought to assuage the apprehensions and said the state was prepared for its successful implementation in a time-bound manner Replying to the discussion on the NEP done under Speakers Initiative on the last day of the Winter Session Pegu said regarding education in vernacular language he has already discussed it with different Sahitya Sabhas of Assam Work to prepare curriculum and textbook is underway in this regard he added Pegu also said based on the model formulated by the National Council of Educational Research and Training the State Council Of Educational Research And Training will prepare the textbook under the NEP The state government has been providing textbooks to students in different languages at present and there is no reason it cannot do so in the future he added Pegu further said the main objective of the NEP is to introduce a student friendly environment which will have multiple exit and entry scope for every student in order to continue education as per convenience though there will a specific period to complete a degree He informed the House that as part of the process to implement the NEP the state government has convened a meeting of vice-chancellors of universities of the state on December 28 which will take some key decisions regarding implementation of the policy in higher education along with preparation of curriculum The minister said with implementation of the NEP 50 hours of training for the existing teaching staffs of Assam will become mandatory and training at various levels will be undertaken Earlier participating in the discussion Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia Congress said the NEP should be implemented only after there is clarity on how mother tongue or the main local language of an area will be used as the medium of instruction at the primary level in a multilingual state like Assam Saikia also claimed that the NEP puts thrust on establishment of private schools and cost of education could escalate under it Manoranjan Talukdar of CPIM said there was no mention of any analysis of shortcomings in earlier education policies and commissions set up for the purpose He also stressed on increasing budgetary allocation for Education department to ensure gap in infrastructure as needed under NEP is met AIUDF legislator Mujibur Rahman said proper planning is key to successful implementation of the NEP and added that the government must ensure it was prepared on all fronts PTI SSG RG RG

Guwahati (Assam) [India], December 24 (ANI): The Assam Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed the amendment bill for modification of the Cattle Preservation Act to further strengthen the Act.

Guwahati Dec 23 PTI The Assam Assembly on Thursday passed two bills to reserve 50 per cent seats for women for 10 years on rotational basis in constituencies of the civic bodies in the state The Assam Municipal Third Amendment Bill 2021 proposes that 50 per cent of the total number of seats to be filled up by direct election including those reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in any municipality will be reserved for women Such seats will be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a municipality every 10 years as per the amendment to the Assam Municipal Act 1956 The step to provide reservation for a ward for 10 years will encourage women to participate in the democratic process of election and will enable them to bring sustainability to schemes implemented by the urban local bodies Urban Development Minister Ashok Singhal said The Assembly also passed The Guwahati Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2021 which extends the tenure of women reservation for up to 10 years in the direct election of its councilors The amendments to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation GMC Act 1969 also seeks to levy stricter penal provisions for violations committed under the Act as most of the provisions for penalty do not serve as deterrents for violators now It also seeks to give powers to the government to increase the number of wards of GMC as and when required by publication in the official gazette In another amendment bill moved by Singhal it has been proposed that the state government can appoint the chief engineer of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority GMDA from not below the rank of superintending engineer civil of any department under it Earlier only officers not below the rank of superintending engineer of the state PWD were eligible for appointment as GMDA chief engineer The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority Amendment Bill 2021 which was also passed by the Assembly widens the scope for choice of suitable candidate for the GMDA chief engineer Singhal said The Assembly also passed The Assam Excise Amendment Bill 2021 during the winter session of the House PTI TR KK KK KK