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Sonowal, Himanta call for women empowerment in Assam

By ANN Service

SIVASAGAR, June 15 - Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said the State Government was keen on taking Assam on the road of development through empowering the womenfolk.

Addressing a mammoth Mahila Samaroh organised by the Panchayat and Rural Development department in association with the Sivasagar district administration at the Parag Chaliha Memorial Field in Joysagar near here on Thursday, Sonowal said women of Assam were now able to shoulder the responsibility of leading the society more confidently under the BJP government as it has been able to bring in a better socio-political ambience.

He urged the women to educate their children to be honest and responsible from the early ages.

The Chief Minister said women hold the key to liberating the nation from superstition and backwardness. Stating that there was no short cut to development, Sonowal said 1.26 lakh women self help groups (SHGs) were given Rs 25,000 each under the Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Achoni.

The best SHGs will be given cash awards of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh, and Rs 2 lakh if they can double their income or production.

Stating that social media should be used for the benefit of the society, and not for spreading the venom of hatred, Sonowal also said the people of Assam must improve the rural economy and rural health scenarios through hard work.

Meanwhile, Health, PWD and Finance Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma told the huge gathering that the Sonowal-led Government will change the face of the state with massive development work in the coming months, and there will be no financial constraints for the same.

He said women are an asset to the nation and it is through their sacrifice and hard work that a nation can garner wealth.

Sarma assured that all roads in the region will be black-topped and all wooden bridges will be converted to RCC bridges by next year.

He said students in Government and provincialised schools will get free admission and free textbooks up to Class 12 from this year. A total of 21 lakh college students have been given free admission till date.

Sarma said financial aid to women�s groups will be doubled next year and aid for critical illness will be increased up to Rs 2 lakh. He also declared that every citizen above 60 years will get old Age pension under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana from October.

Sivasagar, he declared, will have a full fledged Cancer Hospital soon along with 18 other places in Assam, a step the government has taken in consultation with the Tata Trust of Mumbai, in the wake of increasing cancer cases in the state.

Sarma also lambasted a section of people who are not able to see the good work done by the BJP-led government and are hell bent on criticising the government on the slightest pretext.

The meeting was attended among others by Dibrugarh MP Rameswar Teli, Jorhat MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, MLAs Bimal Bora, Kushal Duwori, Pronob Gogoi and Jogen Mohan, along with the Deputy Commissioners of Sivasagar, Jorhat and Charaideo districts and several BJP leaders.

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