Guwahati, Jan 27, 2025, IANS

Guwahati, Jan 27 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday asserted that the state government has been taking several initiatives to uplift the education sector while working in synchronisation with all stakeholders. He said that the government has been working towards building state-of-the-art schools across the state that will bring a massive change in education. “These schools will be established in each of the Assembly constituencies in the state with some constituencies will get more than one such school with all modern facilities," CM Sarma added. Earlier on Sunday, CM Sarma announced that the state government is set to roll back the new pension schemes. Instead, the Central government's Unified Pension Scheme will be implemented for the employees from April this year. During his Republic Day speech in Dibrugarh on Monday, the Chief Minister said, "There has been displeasure among the state government employees on the New Pension Scheme (NPS). The state government has decided to abolish the NPS in Assam and Unified Pension Scheme will come into effect from April month. This will ensure that once an employee completes 25 years of government service, the person is entitled to get 50 per cent of last drawn salary along with 50 per cent of Dearness Allowance as pension after retirement." He also said that the recruitment process of some employees started in 2005 that is before the New Pension Scheme was introduced in the country; however, for some reason, they could not be enrolled in the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). According to the Chief Minister, these employees will now be shifted to OPS. Meanwhile, CM Sarma also mentioned that three towns in the state are to be developed as cities while Dibrugarh will be made the second capital of the state with the establishment of a new Assembly complex there in the next two years. He said, "We are developing infrastructure to turn three towns into cities -- Dibrugarh, Tezpur, and Silchar. Dibrugarh will have an Assembly complex by 2027 and will be Assam's second Capital."