GUWAHATI, OCTOBER 17/–/ The Assam Cabinet on Tuesday decided to implement the 24-MW Karbi Langpi Middle-II Hydro Power Project in Karbi Anglong at a revised project cost of Rs 417.32 crore.
The decision has been taken with an aim to reduce power shortage in the state and bridge the gap between demand and supply to a certain extent through renewable power.
The move will also generate employment opportunities for 150 people during construction phase and 44 people during operation phase.
Further, the project falls under small hydro category (below 25 MW) and, being a run-of-the-river type, it will significantly reduce environmental impact and cause less damage to the ecology.
Among other key decisions, the state Cabinet decided to create a new cadre of prosecution service by framing an Assam State Prosecution Service Rules, 2023 to streamline the system of prosecution and increase conviction rates in the state.
A regular cadre of public prosecutors, additional public prosecutors, special public prosecutors and assistant public prosecutors with competitive pay-scales will be created by framing the Assam State Prosecution Service Rules.
The creation of the prosecution cadre is aimed at increasing synergy between prosecution and investigation teams, ensuring the success of the criminal justice system.
In another significant decision, all Cabinet ministers from Assam will spend five days and five nights in villages in December this year to dedicate 400 schools in the remotest corners of the state.
Accordingly, foundation stones will be laid for 400 new buildings of high and higher secondary schools during December 25, 2023 to January 10, 2024. Of these, 100 will be completely new schools in the tea garden areas.
For renovation of buildings of old schools, an amount of Rs 7 crore will be allocated to each school.
The five villages will be chosen from five different zones. During their stay, the ministers will assess practical implementation of welfare schemes, including level of saturation achieved in such schemes.
On the other hand, in order to strengthen its financial health, the Cabinet decided that an outstanding loan amount of Rs 54 crore and outstanding interest of Rs 10.92 crore, as on March 31, 2023, of Assam Financial Corporation (AFC), would be converted towards equity capital of the corporation.
This will help reduce the gap in equity capital base of the corporation and enable it to continue its lending operations in various sectors such as MSME, microfinance, tourism, healthcare, manufacturing, et al, and attain self-sustainability in due course.