Assam government announces high-level inquiry into boat capsize incident

The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting held in Guwahati on Thursday evening under the chairmanship of Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The cabinet has given its nod for the high-level inquiry and directed Additional Chief Secretary Maninder Singh to probe into the incident and asked him to submit his report within a month.

“The Jorhat district police have been directed to register a criminal case in connection with the accident. The state cabinet has also given responsibility to Assam Finance minister Ajanta Neog to oversee the construction works of Majuli-Jorhat bridge. The monitoring will be done every month,” Keshab Mahanta said.

One female college teacher died in the tragic boat mishap.

89 people have been rescued or traced by NDRF, SDRF teams and two people are still missing.

The Assam minister also said that the state government has responded to Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA)’s six months unilateral ceasefire announcement and decided to stop operations against the militant organization for one month.

“But prohibition on moving with arms, extortion calls or demands or receiving extortion money will be continued,” Keshab Mahanta said.

Other cabinet decisions are –

1. From now onwards, police verification would not be required for those selected for appointment in government jobs. They would have to provide self-declaration which would be uploaded on a portal. If self-declarations are disputed with facts, appropriate steps would be taken against the candidate. 

2. For government construction works, the royalty payable to Forest Dept for using construction materials like sand, stones etc would now be deducted from the contractors’ bill and submitted in treasury. For private construction in urban areas, the fixed royalty can be paid in four instalments at treasury.

3. Reservation for specially abled candidates in government jobs would be increased from 3% to 4%.

4. Degree, diplomas issued by government approved distance learning institutes would now be considered at par with on-campus courses for government jobs.

5. Cabinet decided to constitute Assam State Organic Mission Agency (ASOMA). Mission Organic Value Chain Development, Assam and National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), Assam would work under ASOMA.