Third CM Secretariat to come up in Barak Valley as Assam pushes for improve administrative reach

Guwahati, Sept 7: In a bid to decentralise governance, the Assam government is considering establishing another Chief Minister’s Secretariat in Barak Valley.

This was announced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika on Saturday, a day after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the newly built CM’s Secretariat in Dibrugarh on Friday.

“Over the year, the government has taken numerous steps toward decentralization. Soon, a secretariat will also be established in Barak Valley,” Minister Pijush Hazarika posted on a micro-blogging site on September 7.

Minister Hazarika also noted that with these secretariats being set up in significant locations throughout the state, “eventually there will be no need to come to Dispur for most government-related work.”

Earlier on Friday, Chief Minister Sarma inaugurated the new CM’s Secretariat in Dibrugarh, in the presence of former CM and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, along with cabinet ministers and MLAs.

The Dibrugarh secretariat will operate four days a month and focus on matters in nine districts of Upper Assam: Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Majuli, Jorhat, and Golaghat.

“Whenever we visit the Dibrugarh CM’s office, we will dedicate three hours to each district in the region, holding discussions with Block Development Officers (BDOs), District Commissioners (DCs), MLAs, Circle Officers (COs), and officers in charge of police stations, among others, on important matters related to the well-being of the people,” Sarma said in a press statement after the inauguration.