Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said his government has decided to make a reservation of 3 per cent for tea tribes and Adivasi people in the Grade I & II jobs in the poll-bound state.The Assam CM had announced a 3 per cent reservation for youths from tea gardens in Grade I and Grade II government jobs in October last year during the 19th biennial general conference of the Assam Tea Tribe Students’ Association (ATTSA) and the central biennial general conference of the Assam Tea Tribe Women’s Association. The event was held at Mariani College playground in Jorhat district.”If we cannot bring the 40 lakh people of the tea community into the mainstream of society, Assam as a whole will never progress. Therefore, we are continuously working towards this goal,” Assam CM had said. As part of this effort, the government will now extend 3 per cent reservation to tea garden youths in Class I and II jobs, including the Assam Civil Service (ACS) and Assam Police Service (APS).The state government has already initiated a 3 per cent reservation for tea and Adivasi communities under the OBC quota in Grade III and IV government jobs. CM Himanta also said the state Cabinet approved Rs 335 crore to establish the second Sainik School of Assam at Langvoku area in Karbi Anglong.As the northeastern state gears up for the big battle for the new legislative, the Assam CM said he would be visiting the house of disgruntled Congress leader Bhupen Kumar Borah, who resigned as Assam unit chief on Monday.”I will visit Bhupen Kumar Borah’s residence between 6:30 pm and 7 pm today. I already talked with him over the telephone,” CM Himanta said.The BJP leader on Monday had also invited Borah to join the ruling party, hours after he submitted his resignation from the Congress, triggering political upheaval in the poll-bound state.Sarma said the BJP’s doors were open for Borah and promised to help him get elected from a “safe seat” if he joined. He also announced that he would visit Borah’s residence to discuss his future plans.“If he wants to join the BJP, we will welcome him, but even if he does not want to do so, we extend our best wishes to him,” Sarma told reporters.Sarma described Borah as the “last Hindu leader” in the Congress without a family background holding ministerial or legislative posts and said his resignation sent a larger message about internal democracy in the party.Meanwhile, recognised national and state political parties of Assam, during their meetings with the election commission on Tuesday, asked for holding the assembly polls in either a single or a maximum of two phases in Assam, officials told news agency PTI.The full bench of the poll body, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is on a visit to Assam to review preparedness for the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.
