Dibrugarh: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the district headquarters of Dibrugarh will be developed as the second capital of the state within the next three years.
Unfurling the national flag on the occasion of Republic Day, Sarma said the government will construct a permanent building of Assam assembly in this city on the southern bank of Brahmaputra in Upper Assam.
"Today is an important day in Dibrugarh's journey to become the second capital of Assam. For the first time, state celebrations are taking place in this historical city," he said. From 2027, one session of Assam assembly will take place in Dibrugarh every year, the CM announced.
"From January 25 next year, the construction work for a permanent building of the Assam assembly will begin. In the next three years, Dibrugarh will become an important city in India," he said. As part of the government's urbanisation plan, Tezpur and Silchar will also be developed along with Dibrugarh in the coming period, Sarma said.
"Dibrugarh will be the second capital of Assam in the next three years. We will construct a Raj Bhavan in Tezpur and develop it as the cultural capital of Assam. Silchar will have a secretariat and chief secretary's office, thereby bridging the gap between Barak Valley and Guwahati," he added.
Sarma had last year opened the first CM secretariat outside the state capital in Dibrugarh town. The CM said that Babasaheb Ambedkar was not part of the initial Constitution Drafting Committee.
"Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru termed him a troublemaker and tried to keep him outside the Constitution Committee. Our Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi favoured Ambedkar due to his exceptional intellectual prowess and it proved to be the right decision to include him in the committee," he said.
Sarma said India has a Constitution with the ethos of brotherhood and compassion, rising above narrow thinking. "Article 17 is the foundation of an open society. Ambedkar's fight against untouchability was not only about Dalits, it was the soul of India. It inspired generations of India," he said.
Article 17 of the Constitution abolishes untouchability. "We are committed not to take India to the darkness of Emergency. We will take part in the journey to make India a developed nation by 2047," Sarma said.
