Spotlight on Barak Valley as Assam govt gets new department after Cabinet reshuffle

Speaking to The Indian Express about the mandate of the new department, Rai said that primary focus is on the implementation of ongoing development work in Barak Valley.

“Assam has been divided into two parts, the Brahmaputra Valley and the Barak Valley and there has always been less development in the Barak Valley. There is not even direct road transport between both the parts and travelling by road requires going through Meghalaya. Under the current government, a lot of projects have been undertaken there and this department has been created in the style of the Union government’s DONER [Development of North Eastern Region] department for coordination in the implementation of projects by all departments. In the new budget, there will also be separate allocation for this department,” he said.

With the induction of Rai, who is known to be close to Chief Minister Sarma, and another newly inducted minister Krishnendu Paul – a Bengali Hindu leader – there are now two ministers from the Barak Valley in the Assam Cabinet, a first since the BJP took charge of the state government in 2016. Before this, Parimal Suklabaidya – currently Silchar MP – had been the only minister from the region in the BJP governments. This increased representation in the Cabinet comes after the number of assembly constituencies from the Barak Valley had been reduced from 15 to 13 in last year’s delimitation exercise.

New portfolios

In the reshuffle, some of Chief Minister Sarma’s portfolios have been assigned to other ministers. Among the other new ministers, Prasanta Phukan has been assigned the Power and the Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship departments and will assist Sarma with the Medical Education and Research Department. Rupesh Gowala has been assigned the Labour Welfare and Tea Tribes and Adivasi Welfare departments and will assist Sarma with the Home Department. Krishnendu Paul has been assigned the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, and the Fishery departments and will assist Sarma with the PWD.

Among the existing ministers, Ashok Singhal has now been given charge of the Health and Family Welfare Department, Atul Bora has been given the Excise Department, Ranjeet Dass has been given Tourism, Keshab Mahanta has been given Revenue and Disaster Management and Jayanta Malla Barua has been given the Parliamentary Affairs and the Housing and Urban Affairs departments