Issues of Assam

The mystic land of Assam, which is popularly known as the “Gateway to North-East India” is a place that is bestowed with natural resources and biodiversity. However, this beautiful state that is endowed with abundance of natural bounties have several issues and problems that needs to be addressed and resolved in order to make the state developed. Although, the state has abundance of natural resources, minerals, biodiversity, etc. everything is underutilized and this is the reason that Assam is still a backward state as compared to other states of India. The recurring flood and erosion problem, welfare schemes for tea garden workers, insurgency, housing for the poor, illegal immigration of Bangladeshis, Adivasis, backward classes and SHGs are the main issues dominating the state.
 

Until the year 1826, before Assam was annexed by the British Government, there was no problem of foreign immigration as the Ahom rulers did not allow foreigners to enter the state and to prevent immigration of people from foreign lands, trade outside Assam was not encouraged. The British considered the sparsely populated country as a land frontier and large scale immigration was encouraged by them from mainland India and East Bengal to fulfill their colonial interests. The Saadullah Government in the year 1937 to 46 encouraged immigration from East Bengal. The immigration issue, the Line system (1920) and the land settlement issues swayed the state politics for almost 20 years and since then, immigration issue continued to remain as the major cause of political stability in the state. After India’s Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru’s liberal policy for the East Pakistan immigrants had a comprehensive effect on Assam’s politics.
 

After the partition of India and Pakistan, East Bengal became a part of Pakistan and came to be known as East Pakistan and in contrast to the western border with Pakistan, which was guarded ardently by the Indian Army, the Eastern border i.e. Bangladesh was left open. The apathetic attitude of the Indian Government encouraged large scale migration from the heavily populated East Pakistan and the population of Assam increased unusually at the rate of 19.93% in 1951 to 34.95% in 1971 owing the enormous influx from Bangladesh.
Besides illegal immigration, another major issue of Assam is the flood and erosion problem. Not only Guwahati but whole of Assam faces this problem, which needs to be looked upon by the Government. Many are killed in the recurring floods; many people lose their near and dear ones, houses and suffer from famine, etc. These are some of the prime issues that needs to the resolved for the progress, growth and development of the state.