From easing of flood situation in Assam to alleged misbehaviour of BJP MLA, the week that was
Guwahati, May 29: Although the flood scene has improved in Assam, the first wave has claimed 32 lives. In yet another news, a total of 30 civil service officers wrote to Assam CM on alleged misbehaviour of Lakhipur MLA with on-duty officers. Meanwhile, in another instance the CM has taken a tough stance on cabinet colleague Sanjay Kishan after he has apologised to ULFA (I) chief.
Flood situation improves in Assam, nearly 4.50 lakh people affected
The flood situation in Assam has improved on Saturday with water levels of most rivers receding.
However, Kopili in Morigaon district was the only river flowing above the danger mark. In this year's flood and landslides nearly 4.50 lakh people remained affected by the deluge while the death toll rose to 32.
A total of 4,49,136 people in 653 villages in 8 districts are still affected by floods. A total of 29160.36 hectares of crop areas has been affected by floods.
Cachar, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon and Nagaon districts are the most affected district of the State.
Nagaon is the worst-affected district with over 3.07 lakh people suffering from the deluge, followed by Cachar (with 99,060 people) and Morigaon (with 40,843 people).
Meanwhile, an inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs visited areas affected by the flood and landslides in Dima Hasao, Nagaon and Hojai districts on Saturday to assess the damage.
Civil servants accuses BJP MLA of misbehaving with on-duty officers, writes to CM
Thirty civil service officers of Assam's Cachar district administration signed a memorandum and submitted it to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, accusing BJP legislator Kaushik Rai of misbehaving, insulting, and threatening officers on duty.
In the memorandum, the officials highlighted the 'gross misbehaviour' by MLA Lakhipur towards the civil servants engaged in relief duty. They further said that the BJP MLA of Lakhipur constituency questioned the integrity of the entire Assam Civil Services cadre.
While citing an instance, the officials highlighted that the MLA remarked that BDO of Sonai, Hussain Mohammad Mobin, ALRS should be 'beaten up'. "Other Panchayat Representatives further said that the Circle Officer(s) should be punished as they have failed to distribute any relief and went on to quote derogatory Un Parliamentary words for the entire Government machinery who were working in Sonal and also, accused the concerned officers of working at behest of the opposition party and termed the officers as agent of the opposition," the memorandum said.
The memorandum further stated that Circle officers were called as 'rice chors' and other derogatory remarks were also used.
"Several incidents of physical abuse and derogatory remarks on civil servants have rocked our state several times in the past, the recent use of severe use of unparliamentary language and violent threatening of officers on duty by MLA Lakhipur has severely demoralised the Civil Service offices fraternity of the entire district," stated the letter.
Assam CM issues show-cause notice to minister Sanjay Kishan
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma issued a show cause notice to Tea Tribes and Employment minister Sanjay Kishan for tendering an apology to the chief of banned outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) (ULFA-I) Paresh Baruah.
The CM sought an explanation from his cabinet colleague on why he had apologised to Paresh Baruah
Earlier, on May 15, the BJP legislator from Tinsukia, publicly apologized for his remark against Paresh Baruah. The outfit gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to apologise for allegedly calling its chief a 'liar'.
The outfit has asked Kishan to either apologise for his remark or be "boycotted" from entering Assam's Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts.