Guwahati, July 13 (IANS) The Assam cabinet has decided that all state employees, regardless of their class of service, shall spend at least three to five years of their whole employment time working in “difficult” (Durgam) parts of the state.

The state cabinet has authorized a scheme called “Durgam to Sugam,” state education minister Ranoj Pegu told reporters after the decision was made during a meeting on Wednesday night. This plan is intended to help the state’s challenging terrain areas develop. In those years, the government personnel will be posted for somewhere between three and five years.

According to Pegu, the state government thinks that this will contribute to the improvement of certain communities.

The state Cabinet decided on Wednesday to provide three eggs to every child in a week during midday meals at schools in tea garden areas in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Poshan initiative.

This will improve student attendance and retention rates while lowering the dropout rate in tea garden neighborhoods, according to him.

The Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led cabinet also decided to increase the existing 15% to 27% reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and Minorities and Other Backward Castes (MOBCs) in institutions of higher education.

The Assam Road Network Master Plan (RNMP), 2023 would be adopted by the council of ministers for long-term connectivity needs, according to State Minister of Health Keshab Mahanta.

State highways and significant district roads will also be identified and designated for the state’s roads.

The RNMP prioritizes 18,421 km of roads for the building of a higher-order road network, which comprises 5,120 km of state highways, 8,638 km of key district roads, and 4,673 km of national highways, in order to fulfill future travel demands over 20-year period.

The roads will be phased into priority 1, priority 2, and priority 3 lists for durations of five, ten, and twenty years.