The Assam cabinet has recently decided to boost the reservation for six communities of the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and More Other Backward Castes (MOBCs) belonging to the non-creamy layer for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) seats in the Assam medical colleges.On Thursday, at the media briefing after the meeting, Pijush Hazarika Water Resources Minister said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma chaired the meeting to amend the Medical Colleges and Dental Colleges of the state (Regulation of Admission into first year MBBS/BDS programmes) Rule, 2017, to increase MBBS seats in the medical institutes of the state.

The reservation or number of seats for students of tea garden/ex-tea garden communities/tribes will be boosted from the current 27 to 30 seats, Koch Rajbongshis- 10 to 13, Tai Ahoms- 7 to 10, Chutias- 6 to 9. It will go up to eight each from the existing five for the Moran and Matak. The Assam cabinet has also decided to reserve 10% of MBBS seats for students from Economically Weaker Sections in the six medical institutes/colleges of Silchar, Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat, Barpeta, and Dibrugarh.

The board of ministers also determined to reserve 10% of the remaining seats after the removal of 15% of the All India Quota, central pool, North Eastern Council (NEC), and Royal Government of Bhutan quotas for NRI/NRI-sponsored students who have passed NEET UG examination. The cabinet also chose to place a Hydro-Informatics Unit under the Water Resources department and bolster the Externally Aided Project (EAP) wing of the department.

The Hydro-Informatics Unit will be a scientific branch accountable for developing and operationalizing the flood forecasting approach and inundation map library in order to support flood and erosion risk management.

The Assam cabinet also determined to conclude physical non-judicial stamps and grow digital stamping with notification of necessary regulations from July 1, 2023. Hazarika said the cabinet took this decision to give growth to digital stamping and assure the state government cuts down on expenses by delivering a quicker and more transparent payment process.

The Assam cabinet also decided that the Autonomous Councils could hire retired executive engineers or individuals retiring from a higher rank from any state government department in order to guarantee the convenient formulation and implementation of schemes.