The Assam government is firm on the promise of providing one lakh jobs to people before the completion of its first year on May 10 this year, Finance Minister Ajanta Neog informed the state Assembly on Tuesday.
Ahead of the Assembly elections in 2021, the BJP had promised the people of the state that if voted to power, it will give them one lakh jobs within a year of forming the government. Himanta Biswa Sarma took oath as the chief minister of Assam on May 10 last year.
In a written reply, Neog said the recruitment process for various departments is going on and the administration is committed to keep the promise of giving government employment to one lakh people.
She said 104 jobs in the health department, 123 in home department and 930 in the education department have already been given.
The recruitment process for another 84,244 posts is on, Neog said. Two commissions for ensuring a transparent recruitment process have been set up and they are functioning, the minister added.
In written reply to another question, Neog said out of over eight lakh eligible beneficiaries under the first phase of a state government scheme for repaying loans from micro-finance institutions (MFIs), more than 6 lakh have received their incentive.
She said 6,70,301 people who had availed loans from MFIs and are repaying it regularly had received their incentive so far under the Assam Microfinance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS), 2021.
The disbursed amount under the scheme is over Rs 1,216 crore. Neog said 2,20,438 eligible identified beneficiaries are yet to receive their incentive. More beneficiaries will be covered by the scheme in the next two phases, she said.
She said Rs 2530 crore has been earmarked for AMFIRS for 2021-22. The AMFIRS was rolled out on November 28 last year, targeting to benefit around 24 lakh poor women across the state, in an attempt to fulfil a major poll promise of the BJP.
Under the first phase of AMFIRS, the beneficiaries are provided with a one-time incentive up to Rs 25,000 or the outstanding balance, whichever is less, to incentivise them to continue maintaining good credit discipline.
In the second phase, relief will be provided to borrowers whose payments are overdue by 1-89 days and for accounts that are overdue but not nonperforming assets (NPA). The state government will pay the overdue amounts to the borrowers in these cases.
In the third phase, borrowers who are stressed, destitute and whose accounts have become NPA will be covered. The government will consider providing partial or full relief based on evaluation.
