Assam

Dispur (Guwahati) · Northeast

Accountability ratings — by the original publisher

These 0–100 ratings are the original publisher's own, quoted here with their methodology. Audit India computes no score — the same way we carry UNDP's HDI as UNDP's number.

Transparency

38/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Two findings are carried here, both from CAG's Report No. 4 of 2025 on the social, economic and general sectors, read against the report itself: the performance audit of the Assam Tea Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, and the performance audit of construction workers' welfare. The score beside this note was assigned by the original publisher on four different findings — NHM, MGNREGS, JJM and POSHAN — cited to Reports No. 01-04 of 2025. Assam's reports at those numbers are on state finances, public sector enterprises and revenues, and none of the figures could be found, so those findings have been withdrawn. Read the score as that publisher's opinion, not as a count of what is shown here.

Officials' Legal Integrity

100/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

10 unique officials counted (Governor excluded). CM Himanta Biswa Sarma: 0 → 100; Speaker Biswajit Daimary: 0 → 100; Ajanta Neog: 0 → 100; Atul Bora: 0 → 100; Chandra Mohan Patowary: 0 → 100; Keshab Mahanta: 0 → 100; Ranoj Pegu: 0 → 100; Jogen Mohan: 0 → 100; Bimal Borah: 0 → 100; (10th) Ashok Singhal: 0 → 100. Average: (100×10) ÷ 10 = 100. Assam's BJP-AGP-UPPL coalition cabinet (formed May 2021) entered office after Tarun Gogoi's Congress era (2001-2016) and Sarbananda Sonowal's BJP tenure. All 10 officials declare 0 criminal cases. Himanta's own case history is clean by ECI affidavit — he left Congress in 2015 under acrimonious circumstances but without criminal charges being filed. Computed by the original publisher from 2021 affidavits. Assam voted again in 2026 and a new council took office, with portfolios allocated on 8 June 2026 — Ajanta Neog, Atul Bora, Chandra Mohan Patowary and Jogen Mohan are not in it, and Biswajit Daimary is now a minister rather than Speaker. The list above has been rebuilt for the sitting council, so this average no longer describes it.

Governance

54/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Composite: indicators avg (49/100) × 50% + Transparency (38/100) × 25% + Integrity (100/100) × 25% = 24.5 + 9.5 + 25 = 59; adjusted down to 54 to reflect: (1) Assam's annual flood crisis — displacing 4-5 million people for 3-4 months every year — is a systemic governance failure that no state government has solved in 75 years; the Brahmaputra embankment system (maintained by the State Water Resources Department) is perennially breached, causing the same damage cycle repeatedly without structural prevention investment; (2) tea garden workers' human development crisis — tea plantation workers in permanent employment have stunting and malnutrition rates comparable to India's poorest tribal communities, an indictment of both the Plantation Labour Act enforcement and the private plantation owner accountability; (3) char community exclusion — 20-25 lakh residents on Brahmaputra river islands lack permanent infrastructure of any kind.

Indicators

The 0–100 rings are the original publisher's category scores, in their colour bands — theirs, not ours.

These statistics were carried over from the original publisher, which produced them with a language model rather than compiling them from the publications named beside them. We removed 38 whose figures were absent from the source they credit, and confirmed 45 against theirs. The rest name a publication we have not been able to check them against — read them as the original publisher's figures, not as verified fact.

EconomyGSDP ~₹7 lakh crore; oil + tea; per-capita below national avg; Brahmaputra floods: ₹3,000-5,000 Cr annual damage4 figures

GSDP 2024-25 (advance estimate): ~₹7 lakh crore; Assam is northeast India's largest economy — accounting for ~60% of the entire northeast's GSDP. Per-capita GSDP of ~₹1.7 lakh is below the national average, reflecting the dual drag of annual flood damage (₹3,000-5,000 crore/year) and the low productivity of the tea and small-farmer rice economy. Guwahati — India's most important gateway city for the northeast — is growing rapidly as a commercial, logistics and healthcare hub for all 8 northeast states. Himanta's government has focused on fiscal consolidation: Assam achieved revenue surplus in 2022-23 for the first time in a decade, driven by GST growth and improved excise collection.; Assam Economic Survey 2024-25; MoSPI State-wise NAS; Assam Budget 2024-25
Tea industry — the world's 2nd largest producer after China: Assam: 50-55% of India's tea; 850+ estates; 7.5 lakh permanent workers + 5 lakh seasonal; Assam is the world's largest single-region tea producer — producing 50-55% of India's total tea (630+ million kg/year), accounting for 14% of global tea exports. The 850+ tea estates (predominantly in Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Sonitpur) represent ₹20,000+ crore annual industry. Assam CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) tea is the base of most Indian blended teas. However, tea estate revenues have grown while worker welfare has deteriorated — tea wages were ₹232/day in 2023-24 against the agricultural labour minimum wage of ₹316/day in Assam (tea workers are governed by separate Plantation Labour Act rates that lag agricultural wage revisions).; Tea Board India Annual Report 2023-24; NTCA Assam Statistics 2023-24
Oil and natural gas production: Assam: India's oldest oil producing region; ~13% of India's onshore crude; OIL India HQ Duliajan; Assam is India's oldest oil-producing state — the first commercial well was drilled at Digboi in 1889 (the world's oldest continuously producing oilfield). Oil India Limited (OIL, HQ Duliajan, Assam) is the primary operator; ONGC has fields in Sibsagar and Golaghat. Annual production is ~13% of India's onshore crude. The Digboi refinery (IOCL, 0.65 MT/year) — built in 1901 — is India's oldest. Oil's contribution to Assam's state revenue (royalties + dividends from OIL) is ~₹3,000 crore/year. Baghjan oil well blowout (2020 — 6 months of uncontrolled oil and gas fire in Tinsukia, destroying 200+ homes, contaminating Dibang-Lohit rivers) was India's worst onshore oil disaster in 40 years.; MoPNG Oil Production Statistics 2023-24; OIL India Annual Report 2023-24; CPCB Baghjan Assessment
Annual flood economic losses: ₹3,000-5,000 Cr/year; 4-5 million displaced annually; 30 lakh hectares cropped area inundated; Assam's annual Brahmaputra floods are India's most recurring economic and humanitarian disaster. In 2022, floods affected 55 lakh people (half the state) and caused ₹4,800 crore in damages. The Kaziranga National Park — the world's most important Rhinoceros habitat — loses 15-30 rhinos and hundreds of deer, elephants and other animals to drowning each flood season. The permanent embankment system — 4,462 km of earthen embankments (the Brahmaputra has India's most extensive flood management embankment network) — suffers ~200-400 breaches each year, destroying the protection it is meant to provide. Climate change is increasing flood severity: Brahmaputra basin rainfall has increased 8% in the last 3 decades.; Assam SDMA Annual Report 2023-24; EM-DAT; UNDP Assam Flood Risk Assessment 2023

EducationLiteracy 73.2%; IIT Guwahati; char and tea garden schools severely under-resourced; CAA protests disrupted 2019-213 figures

IIT Guwahati — northeast's premier institution: IIT Guwahati: 1994-founded; ~8,000 students; the anchor institution for northeast India's technical ecosystem; IIT Guwahati (1994) is the northeast's most important academic institution — providing a research and technical anchor for a region that otherwise lacks high-quality tertiary education. Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University are the primary public universities; Assam Agricultural University (Jorhat) is the region's premier agriculture institution (serving all 8 northeast states for agriculture research). Guwahati Medical College and Assam Medical College (Dibrugarh) are the two major public medical institutions. NIT Silchar (Cachar) serves the Barak Valley and Tripura.; NIRF Rankings 2024; AISHE 2021-22; IIT Guwahati Annual Report 2023-24
ASER 2023 — rural Assam: 52.4% of Grade 5 rural children read Grade 2 text; Assam's rural learning outcome (52.4%) is near the national rural average (49.9%) — a moderate performance that masks the char/tea garden divide. Char habitation schools (predominantly Lower Assam's Brahmaputra districts) have outcomes near 38%, while upper-Assam Barak Valley scores are above 60%. Himanta's school quality drive ("Gunotsav" — state-wide assessment-linked teacher performance review) has improved government school accountability since 2022, with district collector-level oversight of learning outcomes.; ASER 2023, Pratham; Assam Gunotsav Assessment 2023-24
Char and tea-garden school infrastructure deficit: 1,800+ char island schools have no permanent building; 42% tea garden schools lack toilets; 2.8 lakh out-of-school children (DISE 2023); Assam's two most vulnerable educational cohorts — char island children and tea estate children — share a common structural failure: schools exist on paper but infrastructure is inadequate or periodically destroyed. Char island schools are rebuilt or relocated each monsoon as sand erosion reshapes the islands; building permanent structures is impossible. Tea garden estate schools (run under the Plantation Labour Act's mandatory education provision) have been underfunded since the 1990s as estates cut costs — 42% lack functioning girls' toilets, driving female dropout from Class 5 onwards. DISE 2023-24 counts 2.8 lakh out-of-school children aged 6-14 in Assam — concentrated in char (Barpeta, Dhubri, South Salmara) and tea districts (Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia).; UDISE+ Assam 2023-24; Assam Char Development Authority Education Report; ILO Tea Sector Assam Education Audit 2023

EmploymentTea: 7.5 lakh workers at ₹232/day (below min wage); char communities dependent on casual labour; youth unemployment high4 figures

Unemployment rate (PLFS 2023-24): 7.8% — one of northeast India's highest; Assam's unemployment rate of 7.8% is above the national average and high for a northeast state. Youth unemployment (15-29) is estimated at 16-20% — driven by a mismatch: Assam's graduates (India produces 40,000+ graduates in Assam annually) cannot access meaningful employment in the tea-and-oil economy, nor can they easily access Guwahati's limited formal service sector. The CAA/NRC protests of 2019-21 disrupted 18 months of economic activity, particularly in Guwahati and the Brahmaputra valley districts.; PLFS 2023-24, MoSPI; CMIE CPHS Assam data
Tea garden workers — India's most vulnerable employed community: 7.5 lakh permanent + 5 lakh seasonal workers; ₹232/day wage; stunting 52%; "Assam Tea Tribe" community; Tea estate workers — the "Tea Tribe" community predominantly descended from tribal migrants from Jharkhand, MP and Odisha brought to Assam in the 19th century — are permanent employees of private tea companies yet live in conditions comparable to India's most deprived communities. The Plantation Labour Act (1951) was designed to provide them housing, healthcare, schools and sanitation — but plantation owners increasingly substitute Act-mandated services with substandard or no services, reducing labour costs. The BJP government is politically close to the Tea Tribe community (a significant vote bank), and has raised daily wages to ₹232/day in 2023 — but this remains below Assam's minimum agricultural wage of ₹316/day.; Assam Tea Plantation Labour and Advisory Board; ILO Tea Sector Assam Study 2023
Char (river island) economy: 20-25 lakh char residents; paddy and jute farming with no permanent infrastructure; Chars — the silt-formed islands in the Brahmaputra that appear, disappear and reshape annually — house approximately 20-25 lakh people (predominantly Bengali Muslim families who migrated from erstwhile East Pakistan and their descendants). Char communities lack permanent roads, bridges, electricity (solar off-grid at best), or permanent school and health buildings. Their economy is entirely based on two cropping seasons of paddy and jute, supplemented by seasonal fish catch. NRC (National Register of Citizens) re-verification targeted char communities disproportionately — many long-resident families face Foreigners Tribunal proceedings, creating a "citizenship anxiety" that compounds economic vulnerability.; Assam Char Areas Development Authority 2023-24; NCPCR Char Area Survey 2023; UNHCR Assam NRC Update
MGNREGS employment — 29.3% 100-day delivery; char communities excluded: 29.3% households received 100-day entitlement; char communities cannot access MGNREGS without proof of citizenship (NRC issue); Assam's MGNREGS delivery at 29.3% 100-day entitlement is above the national average — but with a severe distributional problem: char residents excluded from the NRC cannot get job cards (as job cards require voter ID and ration card, which require citizenship documentation). An estimated 5-8 lakh char residents are consequently ineligible for MGNREGS despite being among Assam's poorest. The tea garden belt, by contrast, is formally employed (plantation worker) and technically ineligible for MGNREGS — creating a gap for the 30% of workers who are seasonal/casual and fall between plantation protections and MGNREGS eligibility.; Assam MGNREGS MIS Data 2023-24; Legal Aid Services Authority Assam NRC-MGNREGS report

HealthIMR 36 — above national avg; tea garden stunting 52%; Japanese Encephalitis; annual floods break health delivery for 4 months2 figures

Infant Mortality Rate (SRS 2022): 36 per 1,000 live births — above national avg of 27; Assam's IMR of 36 is significantly above the national average, driven by: tea garden community infant mortality (estimated at 50+), char island IMR (estimated at 45-55), and the annual 3-4 month disruption to health services from Brahmaputra floods. Institutional delivery at 83.8% (NFHS-5) is below national average of 88.6% — reflecting the flood-season gap, where heavy rain and rising rivers prevent pregnant women from reaching PHCs.; SRS Bulletin 2022; NFHS-5 Assam Factsheet
Japanese Encephalitis — Upper Assam: 580 cases, 64 deaths 2023-24; 11% fatality rate; vaccination coverage 68%; Japanese Encephalitis (JE) — a mosquito-borne viral encephalitis — is endemic in Upper Assam (Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia) and Lakhimpur districts. The pig-rearing culture in rural Assam (pigs are the amplifying host for JE virus) and rice paddy-irrigated landscapes create ideal transmission conditions. The 11% case fatality rate reflects inadequate intensive care capacity in district hospitals. The 68% vaccination coverage leaves approximately 8-10 lakh eligible children unprotected annually.; NVBDCP JE Annual Report 2023-24; Assam Health Dept JE Statistics

SafetyAnnual Brahmaputra floods; NRC/CAA citizenship crisis for char communities; ethnic conflicts mostly resolved; rhino poaching4 figures

Total IPC cognizable crimes per lakh (NCRB 2022): ~163 per lakh — near national average; Assam's crime rate of ~163 per lakh is near the national average — significantly improved from the high-crime era of the 1990s-2000s when ULFA insurgency and Bodo-Bengali ethnic conflicts made Assam one of India's most conflict-affected states. The Bodo Peace Accord (2020) — signed by the Government of India with NDFB factions and ABSU — ended the Bodoland violence that killed 3,000+ since 1993. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) signed a peace framework in 2023 after 44 years of armed conflict. Assam's security situation is structurally transformed in the 2020s — far better than the pre-2010 era.; NCRB Crime in India 2022; MHA Annual Report 2023-24; Assam Police Annual Report 2022
Annual Brahmaputra floods — 4-5 million displaced: 2022 floods: 55 lakh affected; 196 deaths; 4,800 Cr losses; Kaziranga 30+ rhino deaths; Assam's annual flood season (June-October) is India's largest annual cyclical displacement event. The 2022 floods — among the most severe in recent years — affected 55 lakh people across 32 districts, caused 196 deaths, and destroyed ₹4,800 crore of property and crops. Kaziranga National Park (the world's primary one-horned rhinoceros habitat — 2,600+ rhinos, 75% of the world's population) loses 20-40 animals annually to drowning during floods, plus 5-10 to displacement-related vehicle collisions on NH-37. The government has built "rhino corridors" — elevated paths for wildlife to escape flood waters — but their effectiveness is seasonal.; Assam SDMA Annual Report 2022-23; WWF Kaziranga Flood Impact 2022; NTCA Kaziranga Annual Report
NRC/CAA — citizenship crisis for char communities: 19.06 lakh people excluded from NRC final list (2019); 200,000+ in Foreigners Tribunal proceedings; The National Register of Citizens (NRC) update — which published its final list in August 2019 — excluded 19.06 lakh people from citizenship documentation. Of these, 200,000+ are in proceedings before Foreigners Tribunals. The excluded persons are disproportionately from char habitations and tea-garden communities — long-resident families with documentation gaps rather than recent migrants. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA, December 2019) triggered Assam's largest protests since the 1983 riots — the Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad-led protests caused 5 deaths and ₹200 crore in property damage. The dual anxiety — for the excluded and for Assamese-language speakers fearing demographic change — defines Assam's primary political tension.; NRC Assam Final List 2019; UNHCR Assam Update 2024; Gauhati HC Foreigners Tribunal pending cases statistics
Inter-community ethnic conflict — Bodo-Muslim clashes and BTAD: Bodoland Territorial Area Districts: 4 ethnic conflicts 2008-2021; 1,100+ deaths; Bodoland Accord 2020 — uneasy peace; The Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD — Chirang, Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri) has experienced cyclical Bodo-Muslim violence — the most severe in 2008 and 2012, when over 400,000 people were displaced and 100+ killed. The January 2020 Bodoland Peace Accord (signed between the Government of India, Assam, and NDFB factions) formally ended the Bodo insurgency and created the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). However, the underlying tension between Bodo tribal communities (claiming territorial rights) and Muslim Bengali settlers (claiming residency rights) persists — with four significant communal incidents between 2020-2023. Assam's ethnic geography — 14 distinct scheduled tribe groups plus Assamese-speaking Hindus and Bengali-speaking Muslim char communities — makes community tension management a permanent governance challenge.; MHA Annual Report 2023-24; Bodoland Peace Accord January 2020; SATP Assam Conflict Data 2023; NHRC Assam BTAD Report

Environment35.3% forest cover; Kaziranga — world's rhino capital; Brahmaputra erosion; Baghjan oil spill legacy; tea monoculture4 figures

Forest cover (ISFR 2023): 28,327 sq km — 36.09% of state area; Assam's forest cover of 36.09% is above the national average — concentrated in the Brahmaputra valley's north-bank reserved forests (Manas, Kaziranga, Orang, Dibru-Saikhowa), the Barak valley's forests (Barail Range), and the Karbi Anglong-Dima Hasao hills. Assam lost 62 sq km of forest between 2021-23 (ISFR) — moderate loss rate. The encroachment by landless char communities onto forest land is the primary deforestation driver, along with oil-block clearance for OIL's new fields.; ISFR 2023, Forest Survey of India; Assam Forest Dept Annual Report 2023-24
Kaziranga National Park — world's rhino capital: Kaziranga: 2,613 rhinos — 75% of world's population; UNESCO World Heritage Site; annual flood challenge; Kaziranga National Park (Nagaon-Golaghat districts) houses 75% of the world's Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) population in 430 sq km. It is India's most successful wildlife conservation story — rhino numbers have grown from 12 in 1908 (post-poaching collapse) to 2,613 in 2022. The park also has India's densest tiger population (104 tigers in 2022 census — 127 per 100 sq km). Annual floods — while ecologically beneficial for Kaziranga's grassland renewal — cause significant animal mortality. The NH-37 highway running adjacent to Kaziranga is India's highest wildlife road-kill corridor; 100+ animals die annually from vehicle collisions during flood dispersal.; NTCA Kaziranga Rhino Census 2022; IUCN Indian Rhino Vision 2020 Report; WII Kaziranga Studies
Baghjan oil well blowout — 2020: 6-month uncontrolled oil fire; 200+ homes burned; Dibang-Lohit river contamination; ₹550 Cr damages; The Baghjan Well No. 5 blowout (Oil India Limited, May 2020) — in Tinsukia district — burned uncontrolled for 173 days before being capped in November 2020. The fire killed 2 OIL firefighters, burned 200+ homes in 3 villages, contaminated the Maguri-Motapung wetland (a biodiversity hotspot adjacent to the Dibang river), and dumped an estimated 20,000+ tonnes of crude oil into the wetland and the Lohit and Dibang tributaries. The National Green Tribunal ordered ₹25 crore compensation. OIL paid ₹550 crore in rehabilitation — but complete ecological restoration of the wetland has not been achieved 4 years later.; NGT Order on Baghjan Blowout 2020-2022; IUCN Maguri Wetland Assessment; OIL India Baghjan Rehabilitation Report
Brahmaputra bank erosion — land loss crisis: Assam has lost 3,890 sq km to Brahmaputra erosion since 1950; 270 sq km eroded per year; The Brahmaputra's erosive power — carrying 735 million tonnes of sediment per year — has eroded approximately 3,890 sq km of Assam's agricultural and forest land since 1950. At the current average rate of 270 sq km per year, Assam loses a taluk-sized territory to the river annually. This erosion is the "anti-accretion" of the char-formation dynamic — chars form in some areas while the original bank erodes. Majuli Island (Jorhat) — the world's largest river island and a unique Assamese Vaishnavite cultural site — has shrunk from 1,245 sq km (1950) to 352 sq km (2023) through erosion, losing 72% of its area in 73 years.; CWPRS Brahmaputra Erosion Study 2022; TERI Assam Erosion Report 2023; Majuli District Administration Area Records

Office-holders

Figures below are as declared by each individual in their own ECI or Rajya Sabha affidavit. We report them; we do not score them. The small bars under education are the original publisher's 0–100 mapping of the declared qualification — their construct, not a measurement of ours.

Name	Office	Party · since	Declared cases	Declared qualification	Affidavit
HBHimanta Biswa Sarma	Chief Minister — Home & Political, PWD, Power, Information & Public Relations	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
LPLakshman Prasad Acharya	Governor	—	—	—	—
RKRanjeet Kumar Dass	Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
JMJayanta Mallabaruah	Minister for Finance	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
ASAshok Singhal	Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Medical Education & Research	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
RPRanoj Pegu	Minister for School & Higher Education, Tribal Affairs (Plain), Information Technology	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
PHPijush Hazarika	Minister for Agriculture	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
KMKeshab Mahanta	Minister for Revenue & Disaster Management	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
BBBimal Borah	Minister for Industries & Commerce, Cultural Affairs	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
RTRameswar Teli	Minister for Transformation & Development, Labour Welfare, Tea Tribes & Adivasi Welfare	BJP· 2026	—	—	—

What the CAG found in this state (2)

Findings from CAG audit reports on schemes as they ran in this state, quoted with their report references. We add no grade of our own.

Assam Tea Employees' Provident Fund OrganisationReport No. 4 of 2025 (Performance Audit) · 2025
Coverage of tea garden workers by the provident fund and settlement of family pensions, 2017-22
As of March 2022, 573 of Assam's 1,197 tea estates — covering 39,120 workers — were not under the provident fund scheme at all, though the rules require it. Payment to 1,591 existing family pensioners had been stopped since 2016 because bank details and other documents were never submitted or updated. Between 61 and 90 per cent of family pension claims stood outstanding at the end of every year of the audit period.
What the audit measured
334 tea estates were short of ₹315.45 crore in provident fund contributions as of March 2022, and 83 per cent of them had not deposited for as long as five years. ₹74.15 crore of statutory interest on those defaults was unrealised, and the organisation had not even imposed it on 315 estates. A further 1,994 settled claims worth ₹14.01 crore never reached beneficiaries' bank accounts because the transactions failed — more than half of those from 2017-19 pending over three years. Of 1,146 registered estates, 221 were not inspected even once in three years.
Read this report in our archive →
Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers — AssamReport No. 4 of 2025 (Performance Audit) · 2025
Whether the welfare board knows what cess is owed to it, 2017-22
Assam's construction workers' welfare board had no mechanism at all to know how much cess was receivable, how much had been collected, or how much different agencies had actually remitted. Its budget proposals were unrealistic and its capacity to run schemes weak, so money piled up unspent at year-end even as it accumulated over the years.
What the audit measured
The board submitted its budget to the state government two to eight months late through the audit period. Both the board and its district offices were run by contractual staff and short of manpower at every level. Awareness campaigns and publicity for the welfare schemes were lacking among registered and unregistered workers alike, and the state's supervision of health and safety norms was poor. Meetings of the State Advisory Committee and the board fell short, and the committee was reconstituted late after its term expired.
Read this report in our archive →

Election promises

The promises and their delivery status come from the original publisher and are their assessment, not ours. They cite a party's homepage rather than a manifesto, so what was promised cannot be checked from the citation given. Audit India has verified neither the wording nor the status.

BJP · 2021BJP Assam Election Manifesto 20213✓7~0✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced10 promises

Women & Social Welfare

Arunodoi 2.0: enhance monthly assistance to ₹1,250 and expand coverage to 25 lakh families
Delivered
Arunodoi scheme (₹830/month direct cash to poor women) enhanced to ₹1,250/month under BJP's second term. Coverage expanded from 21 lakh to 25.5 lakh beneficiaries. Under CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, further enhanced to ₹1,500/month in 2023. Considered the most visible GoA welfare delivery.
Micro-finance loan waiver for women SHG members under distress
Delivered
Assam launched Assam Micro Finance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS) in 2021: ₹25,000 to waive microfinance loans for women borrowers with loan up to ₹1.25 lakh. 29 lakh women benefited; ~₹7,300 crore disbursed. Addressed exploitative MFI debt collection practices that had led to suicides in rural Assam.

Agriculture & Tea

Assam Tea Tribes bonus: ₹10,000 cash to every permanent tea garden worker
Partly delivered
BJP promised ₹10,000 bonus to tea tribe workers. GoA disbursed ₹3,000 per worker (2021) and ₹5,000 per worker (2022) — cumulative ₹8,000 in 2 years. Full ₹10,000 in a single year not achieved. Tea tribe vote considered crucial to BJP's 2021 win; this was a key electoral promise.

Flood Control & Infrastructure

Comprehensive flood management: embankment repair and erosion control across Brahmaputra
Partly delivered
GoA invested ~₹5,000 crore in embankment repair and anti-erosion works (2021-25). However Assam floods remain a perennial crisis — 2022 floods displaced 40 lakh people. Brahmaputra erosion consumed 3,000+ sq km of land over decades. NDMA and GoI collaboration on Kaziranga flood protection improved. But structural solutions remain elusive due to the river's dynamic nature.

NRC & Citizenship Policy

Implement Assam Accord clause 6: ensure protection of Assamese cultural and linguistic identity through NRC enforcement
Partly delivered
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord (1985) promised reservation of seats, land rights, and cultural protection for indigenous Assamese people. The Clause 6 Committee submitted a report in 2020 (sealed; not fully implemented). NRC final list (August 2019) excluded 19.06 lakh people — but has not led to deportations as Foreigners Tribunals remain backlogged with 2 lakh+ pending cases. BJP Assam's position has been to implement CAA (relief for Hindu/Sikh/Christian migrants) alongside NRC enforcement — a politically complex balance as Assam's indigenous leadership opposes CAA. Critics note NRC hurt char communities (disproportionately excluded) without demonstrably improving Assamese identity protection.

Oil Accountability & Environment

Ensure Oil India Ltd accountability for environmental damage; expand Assam's oil royalty revenue
Partly delivered
The Baghjan Well-5 blowout (OIL, May 2020 — Tinsukia) burned for 173 days, contaminated the Maguri-Motapung wetland, burned 200+ homes, and killed 2 OIL firefighters. OIL paid ₹550 crore in rehabilitation under NGT orders — but Assam government's royalty share from OIL's new exploration blocks remains a standing dispute with the Centre. Assam receives only ₹2,700 crore/year in oil royalties despite producing ~13% of India's onshore crude. The BJP government filed a claim for revised royalty rates at the petroleum ministry but no revision has been effected.

Healthcare — Atal Amrit Abhiyan & PMJAY

Universal health coverage for all Assam families through Atal Amrit Abhiyan and PMJAY
Delivered
Assam had already launched its own state health insurance scheme "Atal Amrit Abhiyan" (AAA) in 2016 under Sonowal — providing ₹2 lakh/year cashless treatment to BPL families for 6 critical illness categories (cancer, cardiac, kidney, neurological, burns, neonatal). In 2021-25, Himanta Biswa Sarma's government merged AAA with PMJAY to provide a combined ₹5 lakh/year cover. By mid-2026: 60 lakh Assam families (75% of total) are covered. Assam's PMJAY card saturation is 78% — among the highest in North-East India. 4.2 lakh hospital claims processed (2021-25); ₹3,200 crore reimbursed to empanelled hospitals. Infrastructure: Gauhati Medical College expanded (800-bed new block); 14 district hospitals upgraded under National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS). Challenges: 43% of empanelled hospitals are in Guwahati city — rural patients must still travel for tertiary care.

Education & Bodoland Schools

Build model schools in every block; ensure mother-tongue medium education for Bodo, Bengali and Assamese communities
Partly delivered
Assam has a complex multilingual educational landscape: Assamese-medium (state official), Bengali-medium (Barak valley, Char communities), Bodo-medium (BTC area, Kokrajhar), and Hindi- medium (tea tribe communities). BJP 2021 promised 74 'Adarsh Vidyalayas' (model schools — one per block) with CBSE curriculum, English-medium from Class 6, science labs, smart classrooms and sports facilities. By mid-2026: 58 of 74 Adarsh Vidyalayas operational; 16 under construction. Enrolment: Net Enrolment Ratio in Assam secondary schools reached 83% (2024-25) — up from 72% in 2021. However dropout rate at Class 9-10 remains 28% (highest in NE — driven by early marriage among tea tribe girls and agricultural labour demand during harvest season). Assam's teacher vacancy crisis: 24,000 posts vacant (2026) — partly due to APSC/SLRC recruitment freezes during court litigations.

Employment & Swanirbhar Naari

5 lakh jobs; Swanirbhar Naari Yojana for women entrepreneurs; MSME growth in Assam
Partly delivered
BJP's 2021 employment agenda had two tracks: formal government recruitment and private/self-employment through MSME and women's enterprise. Formal recruitment (2021-25): APSC, SLRC and departmental selection boards filled ~32,000 posts (police, teachers, health workers, forest guards, APDCL). Private investment: Advantage Assam 2.0 summit (January 2023) attracted ₹1.25 lakh crore in investment MOUs — of which ~₹18,000 crore has progressed to ground-breaking as of 2026, creating an estimated 45,000 private jobs. Swanirbhar Naari Yojana: ₹25,000 grants to 5 lakh women for micro-enterprise (beauty parlour, tailoring, food processing, handicrafts). By 2025 approximately 3.2 lakh women received grants; 1.8 lakh enterprises active (GoA self-assessment). Assam's unemployment rate fell from 9.4% (2021) to 7.1% (2025-26) — improvement is real but benchmark is weak (NE India baseline is structural underemployment). Total 5 lakh formal job target: not achieved.

Kaziranga & Wildlife Conservation

Protect Kaziranga's rhinos; expand the park; combat poaching with anti-poaching squads
Partly delivered
Kaziranga National Park — UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to 2,613 one-horned rhinoceroses (74% of the world's total, 2022 census) — is Assam's most globally recognised conservation achievement. BJP 2021 promised to make Assam a zero-poaching state and expand Kaziranga's protected area. Progress: rhino poaching fell from 25/year (2014-17 average) to 5/year (2022-24) — a genuine improvement. Expanded Kaziranga Tiger Reserve: 1,625 sq km core + 1,669 sq km buffer (declared 2023), absorbing the Karbi Anglong hills corridor that rhinos use during monsoon flooding. However the annual Brahmaputra flood — which inundates 70-85% of Kaziranga — caused record animal mortality in 2022 (225 animals drowned, including 18 rhinos). The National Highway-37 (4-laning project through Kaziranga corridor) remains the park's single greatest threat — wildlife vehicle collisions killed 34 large mammals (2021-25) along the NH stretch. Elephant corridor encroachment by human settlements in Karbi Anglong district is a persistent conflict.

BJP · 2016BJP Assam Election Manifesto 20164✓5~1✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced10 promises

Governance & Social

Corruption-free Assam: establish Lokayukta and fast-track anti-corruption courts
Partly delivered
Assam Lokayukta Act (2013, under Congress) was operationalised more actively under BJP. Fast-track courts for corruption cases: 6 established. Sarbananda Sonowal government launched ACB (Anti-Corruption Branch) drives; 130+ arrests 2016-20. Corruption complaints to ACB increased but conviction rate remains low (~12%).

Agriculture & Infrastructure

Assam Organic Mission: make Assam India's largest organic farming state
Partly delivered
Assam Organic Farming Policy declared (2017); organic certification process set up. 2 lakh hectares targeted for organic transition. By 2021 about 60,000 ha certified. Assam ranks among top states in organic farming area but not India's largest — Sikkim and Uttarakhand have higher certified organic percentages per total cultivated area.

Tea Workers & Labour

Raise tea garden worker wages to ₹350/day; enforce Plantation Labour Act on healthcare and housing
Not delivered
BJP 2016 promised to raise tea worker daily wages and enforce PLA mandated services. Under Sonowal government (2016-21) the wage was raised from ₹169 to ₹205/day — well below the ₹350 promise. Despite PLA provisions requiring plantation hospitals, housing, and schools, estate owners continued to cut services. 7.5 lakh workers' children remained stunted at 52% rate. Enforcement machinery — the state Labour Department — conducted negligible PLA inspections in the 2016-21 period. The tea wage issue was exploited by BJP in 2021 (promising a ₹10,000 bonus) to maintain the Tea Tribe vote bank.

Peace & ULFA

Resolve ULFA insurgency through peace talks; ULFA-I (pro-talks) reintegration into mainstream
Delivered
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) — founded 1979, at peak 1980s-2000s — waged a 44-year armed insurgency demanding Assam's independence from India. Sarbananda Sonowal government (2016-21) initiated formal peace framework talks with ULFA-PC (pro-talks faction under Arabinda Rajkhowa). The Assam Peace Accord was signed in December 2023 — after the BJP's second term — formally ending the ULFA insurgency. 6,000+ cadres surrendered and were inducted into a rehabilitation scheme. ULFA-I (anti-talks faction under Paresh Baruah, based in Myanmar) remains active but greatly diminished.

NRC & Illegal Immigration — Assam's Core Issue

Implement NRC (National Register of Citizens) to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Bangladesh
Partly delivered
The NRC — mandated by the Assam Accord (1985) and Supreme Court order (2013) — was Assam BJP's defining promise in 2016. Assam's post-1947 politics has been dominated by migration from East Pakistan/Bangladesh, triggering the 1983 Nellie massacre (3,000+ dead) and the 1985 Accord that promised to detect and deport post-1971 immigrants. The Supreme Court-monitored NRC update (2015-19) under the Sarbananda Sonowal government (2016-21) was the most expensive exercise in Indian administrative history — involving 1,000+ registration centres, 52,000 government employees, and a total cost of ₹1,600 crore. The final NRC (August 31, 2019) excluded 19.06 lakh people (of 3.29 crore applicants) who could not prove their citizenship. However the result was politically contentious: (1) BJP leaders declared the NRC was "flawed" as it excluded many Hindus whom BJP considers legitimate citizens; (2) Many Muslims who are genuine citizens were excluded due to documentation gaps; (3) The Foreigners' Tribunals handling appeals have backlog of 1.9 lakh cases; (4) India and Bangladesh have no deportation treaty — making actual deportation of declared non-citizens legally impossible; (5) No nationwide NRC (promised by Amit Shah post-2019) has been implemented. As of mid-2026 the 19.06 lakh excluded persons remain in legal limbo — not deported, not restored to citizenship, unable to vote or access welfare.

Women Welfare — Arunodoi Launch

Launch Arunodoi direct cash transfer to 22 lakh poor women — ₹830/month
Delivered
The Arunodoi ("dawn") scheme — launched October 2020 by the Sonowal government — was one of India's first large-scale gender-targeted direct benefit transfer programmes at the state level. ₹830/month deposited directly into women's bank/Jan Dhan accounts covering food, health and livelihood needs. By the 2021 election it had reached 21.5 lakh beneficiaries. The scheme was transformative in rural Assam: surveys showed beneficiary women in char (river island) areas — among Assam's poorest communities — used the transfer primarily for children's school fees and medicines. Politically, Arunodoi is considered the single most important factor in BJP's 2021 win — Himanta Biswa Sarma (who became CM) credited it as "the scheme that changed everything." It was subsequently expanded under BJP's second term.

Infrastructure — Bogibeel Bridge & NH Connectivity

Complete Bogibeel Bridge; upgrade NH-37/AH-1 to 4-lane; build all-weather roads in Upper Assam
Delivered
Bogibeel Bridge — India's longest rail-cum-road bridge (4.94 km, over the Brahmaputra at Dhemaji-Dibrugarh) — was inaugurated by PM Modi on December 25, 2018, during the Sonowal government's term. The bridge, under construction since 2002, connects Upper Assam to Arunachal Pradesh by road and rail for the first time — reducing the Dibrugarh-Itanagar distance from 540 km to 140 km (road via ferry) to a direct 250 km (bridge). Strategically, Bogibeel provides a critical military logistics corridor to the China-adjacent LAC in Arunachal. Road upgrades: NH-27 (Trans-Arunachal Highway via Assam) and NH-15 (Manipur corridor) improved; the 4-lane upgrade of NH-37 through Kaziranga was approved but became controversial for wildlife impact. Dibrugarh-Naharkatia road (100 km, oil belt) resurfaced. The Rongiya-Narengi expressway (outer ring road for Guwahati, 62 km) DPR completed.

Healthcare — Atal Amrit Abhiyan Launch

Launch Atal Amrit Abhiyan: cashless treatment for 6 critical illness categories for BPL families
Delivered
Atal Amrit Abhiyan (AAA) — launched 2016 under Sarbananda Sonowal — was Assam's state health insurance scheme providing ₹2 lakh/year cashless treatment to BPL families for 6 critical illness categories: cancer, cardiac diseases, kidney failure, neurological disorders, burns, and neonatal care. It predated PMJAY by 2 years and was modelled on the Rajiv Aarogyasri (AP) and Arogyasri (TS) approach. By 2021: 19 lakh families enrolled; 1.4 lakh claims processed; ₹680 crore reimbursed. 127 hospitals (government and private) empanelled. The scheme received the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2018). Post-audit action: 9 hospitals de-empanelled.

Education — Model Schools & Assamese Medium

Establish model high schools in all 126 constituencies; maintain Assamese-medium government schools
Partly delivered
BJP 2016 promised flagship constituency-level model schools. Under the Sonowal government (2016-21): 62 of 126 constituency model high schools (Adarsh Vidyalaya prototype) became functional. SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) Assam saw 14,000+ classrooms constructed. Toilet completion in government schools reached 93% (from 68% in 2016) — a genuine improvement. The Assam Jatiya Bidyalay (vernacular Assamese-medium schools) network: 1,700 schools with 4.5 lakh students, previously run by a trust without state salary — BJP 2016 promised government salary absorption. By 2020 approximately 1,200 of these were absorbed (remaining 500 still awaiting). Mid-day meal: Assam achieved 88% hot cooked meal coverage (2020-21). Controversy: 2019 "teacher rationalisation" policy (merging small-enrollment rural schools with larger ones to optimise teacher deployment) caused rural outrage — 400+ schools merged, displacing students in areas without transportation.

Flood Management — Brahmaputra Embankments

Permanent solution to Assam floods: repair all 4,452 km of embankments; protect Majuli island
Partly delivered
Assam's flood crisis is among India's most persistent governance failures: the Brahmaputra- Barak river system inundates 40 lakh+ people annually, on average. The state has 4,452 km of embankments — built from the 1950s through the 1980s — most approaching the end of their design life. only ₹380 crore/year is spent on maintenance against a requirement of ₹1,200 crore/year; 890 km were breached at least once in 2022. The Sonowal government (2016-21) spent ₹4,200 crore on flood management — but most was for post-flood relief rather than structural embankment repair. Majuli — the world's largest inhabited river island (352 sq km) — has lost 52% of its land area to Brahmaputra erosion since 1950. BJP promised a 'permanent protection plan' for Majuli; work began on a spurs-and-revetment erosion control scheme (₹960 crore, GoI + GoA) but the island lost another 4.2 sq km in the 2022 flood season.

Audit record

1 CAG reports

29 Nov 2025Audit Report on Social, Economic and General Sectors, Government of AssamPerformance Audit

Accountability ratings — by the original publisher

These 0–100 ratings are the original publisher's own, quoted here with their methodology. Audit India computes no score — the same way we carry UNDP's HDI as UNDP's number.

Transparency

38/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Officials' Legal Integrity

100/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Governance

54/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Indicators

The 0–100 rings are the original publisher's category scores, in their colour bands — theirs, not ours.

EconomyGSDP ~₹7 lakh crore; oil + tea; per-capita below national avg; Brahmaputra floods: ₹3,000-5,000 Cr annual damage4 figures

GSDP 2024-25 (advance estimate): ~₹7 lakh crore; Assam is northeast India's largest economy — accounting for ~60% of the entire northeast's GSDP. Per-capita GSDP of ~₹1.7 lakh is below the national average, reflecting the dual drag of annual flood damage (₹3,000-5,000 crore/year) and the low productivity of the tea and small-farmer rice economy. Guwahati — India's most important gateway city for the northeast — is growing rapidly as a commercial, logistics and healthcare hub for all 8 northeast states. Himanta's government has focused on fiscal consolidation: Assam achieved revenue surplus in 2022-23 for the first time in a decade, driven by GST growth and improved excise collection.; Assam Economic Survey 2024-25; MoSPI State-wise NAS; Assam Budget 2024-25
Tea industry — the world's 2nd largest producer after China: Assam: 50-55% of India's tea; 850+ estates; 7.5 lakh permanent workers + 5 lakh seasonal; Assam is the world's largest single-region tea producer — producing 50-55% of India's total tea (630+ million kg/year), accounting for 14% of global tea exports. The 850+ tea estates (predominantly in Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Sonitpur) represent ₹20,000+ crore annual industry. Assam CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) tea is the base of most Indian blended teas. However, tea estate revenues have grown while worker welfare has deteriorated — tea wages were ₹232/day in 2023-24 against the agricultural labour minimum wage of ₹316/day in Assam (tea workers are governed by separate Plantation Labour Act rates that lag agricultural wage revisions).; Tea Board India Annual Report 2023-24; NTCA Assam Statistics 2023-24
Oil and natural gas production: Assam: India's oldest oil producing region; ~13% of India's onshore crude; OIL India HQ Duliajan; Assam is India's oldest oil-producing state — the first commercial well was drilled at Digboi in 1889 (the world's oldest continuously producing oilfield). Oil India Limited (OIL, HQ Duliajan, Assam) is the primary operator; ONGC has fields in Sibsagar and Golaghat. Annual production is ~13% of India's onshore crude. The Digboi refinery (IOCL, 0.65 MT/year) — built in 1901 — is India's oldest. Oil's contribution to Assam's state revenue (royalties + dividends from OIL) is ~₹3,000 crore/year. Baghjan oil well blowout (2020 — 6 months of uncontrolled oil and gas fire in Tinsukia, destroying 200+ homes, contaminating Dibang-Lohit rivers) was India's worst onshore oil disaster in 40 years.; MoPNG Oil Production Statistics 2023-24; OIL India Annual Report 2023-24; CPCB Baghjan Assessment
Annual flood economic losses: ₹3,000-5,000 Cr/year; 4-5 million displaced annually; 30 lakh hectares cropped area inundated; Assam's annual Brahmaputra floods are India's most recurring economic and humanitarian disaster. In 2022, floods affected 55 lakh people (half the state) and caused ₹4,800 crore in damages. The Kaziranga National Park — the world's most important Rhinoceros habitat — loses 15-30 rhinos and hundreds of deer, elephants and other animals to drowning each flood season. The permanent embankment system — 4,462 km of earthen embankments (the Brahmaputra has India's most extensive flood management embankment network) — suffers ~200-400 breaches each year, destroying the protection it is meant to provide. Climate change is increasing flood severity: Brahmaputra basin rainfall has increased 8% in the last 3 decades.; Assam SDMA Annual Report 2023-24; EM-DAT; UNDP Assam Flood Risk Assessment 2023

EducationLiteracy 73.2%; IIT Guwahati; char and tea garden schools severely under-resourced; CAA protests disrupted 2019-213 figures

IIT Guwahati — northeast's premier institution: IIT Guwahati: 1994-founded; ~8,000 students; the anchor institution for northeast India's technical ecosystem; IIT Guwahati (1994) is the northeast's most important academic institution — providing a research and technical anchor for a region that otherwise lacks high-quality tertiary education. Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University are the primary public universities; Assam Agricultural University (Jorhat) is the region's premier agriculture institution (serving all 8 northeast states for agriculture research). Guwahati Medical College and Assam Medical College (Dibrugarh) are the two major public medical institutions. NIT Silchar (Cachar) serves the Barak Valley and Tripura.; NIRF Rankings 2024; AISHE 2021-22; IIT Guwahati Annual Report 2023-24
ASER 2023 — rural Assam: 52.4% of Grade 5 rural children read Grade 2 text; Assam's rural learning outcome (52.4%) is near the national rural average (49.9%) — a moderate performance that masks the char/tea garden divide. Char habitation schools (predominantly Lower Assam's Brahmaputra districts) have outcomes near 38%, while upper-Assam Barak Valley scores are above 60%. Himanta's school quality drive ("Gunotsav" — state-wide assessment-linked teacher performance review) has improved government school accountability since 2022, with district collector-level oversight of learning outcomes.; ASER 2023, Pratham; Assam Gunotsav Assessment 2023-24
Char and tea-garden school infrastructure deficit: 1,800+ char island schools have no permanent building; 42% tea garden schools lack toilets; 2.8 lakh out-of-school children (DISE 2023); Assam's two most vulnerable educational cohorts — char island children and tea estate children — share a common structural failure: schools exist on paper but infrastructure is inadequate or periodically destroyed. Char island schools are rebuilt or relocated each monsoon as sand erosion reshapes the islands; building permanent structures is impossible. Tea garden estate schools (run under the Plantation Labour Act's mandatory education provision) have been underfunded since the 1990s as estates cut costs — 42% lack functioning girls' toilets, driving female dropout from Class 5 onwards. DISE 2023-24 counts 2.8 lakh out-of-school children aged 6-14 in Assam — concentrated in char (Barpeta, Dhubri, South Salmara) and tea districts (Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia).; UDISE+ Assam 2023-24; Assam Char Development Authority Education Report; ILO Tea Sector Assam Education Audit 2023

EmploymentTea: 7.5 lakh workers at ₹232/day (below min wage); char communities dependent on casual labour; youth unemployment high4 figures

Unemployment rate (PLFS 2023-24): 7.8% — one of northeast India's highest; Assam's unemployment rate of 7.8% is above the national average and high for a northeast state. Youth unemployment (15-29) is estimated at 16-20% — driven by a mismatch: Assam's graduates (India produces 40,000+ graduates in Assam annually) cannot access meaningful employment in the tea-and-oil economy, nor can they easily access Guwahati's limited formal service sector. The CAA/NRC protests of 2019-21 disrupted 18 months of economic activity, particularly in Guwahati and the Brahmaputra valley districts.; PLFS 2023-24, MoSPI; CMIE CPHS Assam data
Tea garden workers — India's most vulnerable employed community: 7.5 lakh permanent + 5 lakh seasonal workers; ₹232/day wage; stunting 52%; "Assam Tea Tribe" community; Tea estate workers — the "Tea Tribe" community predominantly descended from tribal migrants from Jharkhand, MP and Odisha brought to Assam in the 19th century — are permanent employees of private tea companies yet live in conditions comparable to India's most deprived communities. The Plantation Labour Act (1951) was designed to provide them housing, healthcare, schools and sanitation — but plantation owners increasingly substitute Act-mandated services with substandard or no services, reducing labour costs. The BJP government is politically close to the Tea Tribe community (a significant vote bank), and has raised daily wages to ₹232/day in 2023 — but this remains below Assam's minimum agricultural wage of ₹316/day.; Assam Tea Plantation Labour and Advisory Board; ILO Tea Sector Assam Study 2023
Char (river island) economy: 20-25 lakh char residents; paddy and jute farming with no permanent infrastructure; Chars — the silt-formed islands in the Brahmaputra that appear, disappear and reshape annually — house approximately 20-25 lakh people (predominantly Bengali Muslim families who migrated from erstwhile East Pakistan and their descendants). Char communities lack permanent roads, bridges, electricity (solar off-grid at best), or permanent school and health buildings. Their economy is entirely based on two cropping seasons of paddy and jute, supplemented by seasonal fish catch. NRC (National Register of Citizens) re-verification targeted char communities disproportionately — many long-resident families face Foreigners Tribunal proceedings, creating a "citizenship anxiety" that compounds economic vulnerability.; Assam Char Areas Development Authority 2023-24; NCPCR Char Area Survey 2023; UNHCR Assam NRC Update
MGNREGS employment — 29.3% 100-day delivery; char communities excluded: 29.3% households received 100-day entitlement; char communities cannot access MGNREGS without proof of citizenship (NRC issue); Assam's MGNREGS delivery at 29.3% 100-day entitlement is above the national average — but with a severe distributional problem: char residents excluded from the NRC cannot get job cards (as job cards require voter ID and ration card, which require citizenship documentation). An estimated 5-8 lakh char residents are consequently ineligible for MGNREGS despite being among Assam's poorest. The tea garden belt, by contrast, is formally employed (plantation worker) and technically ineligible for MGNREGS — creating a gap for the 30% of workers who are seasonal/casual and fall between plantation protections and MGNREGS eligibility.; Assam MGNREGS MIS Data 2023-24; Legal Aid Services Authority Assam NRC-MGNREGS report

HealthIMR 36 — above national avg; tea garden stunting 52%; Japanese Encephalitis; annual floods break health delivery for 4 months2 figures

Infant Mortality Rate (SRS 2022): 36 per 1,000 live births — above national avg of 27; Assam's IMR of 36 is significantly above the national average, driven by: tea garden community infant mortality (estimated at 50+), char island IMR (estimated at 45-55), and the annual 3-4 month disruption to health services from Brahmaputra floods. Institutional delivery at 83.8% (NFHS-5) is below national average of 88.6% — reflecting the flood-season gap, where heavy rain and rising rivers prevent pregnant women from reaching PHCs.; SRS Bulletin 2022; NFHS-5 Assam Factsheet
Japanese Encephalitis — Upper Assam: 580 cases, 64 deaths 2023-24; 11% fatality rate; vaccination coverage 68%; Japanese Encephalitis (JE) — a mosquito-borne viral encephalitis — is endemic in Upper Assam (Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia) and Lakhimpur districts. The pig-rearing culture in rural Assam (pigs are the amplifying host for JE virus) and rice paddy-irrigated landscapes create ideal transmission conditions. The 11% case fatality rate reflects inadequate intensive care capacity in district hospitals. The 68% vaccination coverage leaves approximately 8-10 lakh eligible children unprotected annually.; NVBDCP JE Annual Report 2023-24; Assam Health Dept JE Statistics

SafetyAnnual Brahmaputra floods; NRC/CAA citizenship crisis for char communities; ethnic conflicts mostly resolved; rhino poaching4 figures

Total IPC cognizable crimes per lakh (NCRB 2022): ~163 per lakh — near national average; Assam's crime rate of ~163 per lakh is near the national average — significantly improved from the high-crime era of the 1990s-2000s when ULFA insurgency and Bodo-Bengali ethnic conflicts made Assam one of India's most conflict-affected states. The Bodo Peace Accord (2020) — signed by the Government of India with NDFB factions and ABSU — ended the Bodoland violence that killed 3,000+ since 1993. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) signed a peace framework in 2023 after 44 years of armed conflict. Assam's security situation is structurally transformed in the 2020s — far better than the pre-2010 era.; NCRB Crime in India 2022; MHA Annual Report 2023-24; Assam Police Annual Report 2022
Annual Brahmaputra floods — 4-5 million displaced: 2022 floods: 55 lakh affected; 196 deaths; 4,800 Cr losses; Kaziranga 30+ rhino deaths; Assam's annual flood season (June-October) is India's largest annual cyclical displacement event. The 2022 floods — among the most severe in recent years — affected 55 lakh people across 32 districts, caused 196 deaths, and destroyed ₹4,800 crore of property and crops. Kaziranga National Park (the world's primary one-horned rhinoceros habitat — 2,600+ rhinos, 75% of the world's population) loses 20-40 animals annually to drowning during floods, plus 5-10 to displacement-related vehicle collisions on NH-37. The government has built "rhino corridors" — elevated paths for wildlife to escape flood waters — but their effectiveness is seasonal.; Assam SDMA Annual Report 2022-23; WWF Kaziranga Flood Impact 2022; NTCA Kaziranga Annual Report
NRC/CAA — citizenship crisis for char communities: 19.06 lakh people excluded from NRC final list (2019); 200,000+ in Foreigners Tribunal proceedings; The National Register of Citizens (NRC) update — which published its final list in August 2019 — excluded 19.06 lakh people from citizenship documentation. Of these, 200,000+ are in proceedings before Foreigners Tribunals. The excluded persons are disproportionately from char habitations and tea-garden communities — long-resident families with documentation gaps rather than recent migrants. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA, December 2019) triggered Assam's largest protests since the 1983 riots — the Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad-led protests caused 5 deaths and ₹200 crore in property damage. The dual anxiety — for the excluded and for Assamese-language speakers fearing demographic change — defines Assam's primary political tension.; NRC Assam Final List 2019; UNHCR Assam Update 2024; Gauhati HC Foreigners Tribunal pending cases statistics
Inter-community ethnic conflict — Bodo-Muslim clashes and BTAD: Bodoland Territorial Area Districts: 4 ethnic conflicts 2008-2021; 1,100+ deaths; Bodoland Accord 2020 — uneasy peace; The Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD — Chirang, Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri) has experienced cyclical Bodo-Muslim violence — the most severe in 2008 and 2012, when over 400,000 people were displaced and 100+ killed. The January 2020 Bodoland Peace Accord (signed between the Government of India, Assam, and NDFB factions) formally ended the Bodo insurgency and created the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). However, the underlying tension between Bodo tribal communities (claiming territorial rights) and Muslim Bengali settlers (claiming residency rights) persists — with four significant communal incidents between 2020-2023. Assam's ethnic geography — 14 distinct scheduled tribe groups plus Assamese-speaking Hindus and Bengali-speaking Muslim char communities — makes community tension management a permanent governance challenge.; MHA Annual Report 2023-24; Bodoland Peace Accord January 2020; SATP Assam Conflict Data 2023; NHRC Assam BTAD Report

Environment35.3% forest cover; Kaziranga — world's rhino capital; Brahmaputra erosion; Baghjan oil spill legacy; tea monoculture4 figures

Forest cover (ISFR 2023): 28,327 sq km — 36.09% of state area; Assam's forest cover of 36.09% is above the national average — concentrated in the Brahmaputra valley's north-bank reserved forests (Manas, Kaziranga, Orang, Dibru-Saikhowa), the Barak valley's forests (Barail Range), and the Karbi Anglong-Dima Hasao hills. Assam lost 62 sq km of forest between 2021-23 (ISFR) — moderate loss rate. The encroachment by landless char communities onto forest land is the primary deforestation driver, along with oil-block clearance for OIL's new fields.; ISFR 2023, Forest Survey of India; Assam Forest Dept Annual Report 2023-24
Kaziranga National Park — world's rhino capital: Kaziranga: 2,613 rhinos — 75% of world's population; UNESCO World Heritage Site; annual flood challenge; Kaziranga National Park (Nagaon-Golaghat districts) houses 75% of the world's Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) population in 430 sq km. It is India's most successful wildlife conservation story — rhino numbers have grown from 12 in 1908 (post-poaching collapse) to 2,613 in 2022. The park also has India's densest tiger population (104 tigers in 2022 census — 127 per 100 sq km). Annual floods — while ecologically beneficial for Kaziranga's grassland renewal — cause significant animal mortality. The NH-37 highway running adjacent to Kaziranga is India's highest wildlife road-kill corridor; 100+ animals die annually from vehicle collisions during flood dispersal.; NTCA Kaziranga Rhino Census 2022; IUCN Indian Rhino Vision 2020 Report; WII Kaziranga Studies
Baghjan oil well blowout — 2020: 6-month uncontrolled oil fire; 200+ homes burned; Dibang-Lohit river contamination; ₹550 Cr damages; The Baghjan Well No. 5 blowout (Oil India Limited, May 2020) — in Tinsukia district — burned uncontrolled for 173 days before being capped in November 2020. The fire killed 2 OIL firefighters, burned 200+ homes in 3 villages, contaminated the Maguri-Motapung wetland (a biodiversity hotspot adjacent to the Dibang river), and dumped an estimated 20,000+ tonnes of crude oil into the wetland and the Lohit and Dibang tributaries. The National Green Tribunal ordered ₹25 crore compensation. OIL paid ₹550 crore in rehabilitation — but complete ecological restoration of the wetland has not been achieved 4 years later.; NGT Order on Baghjan Blowout 2020-2022; IUCN Maguri Wetland Assessment; OIL India Baghjan Rehabilitation Report
Brahmaputra bank erosion — land loss crisis: Assam has lost 3,890 sq km to Brahmaputra erosion since 1950; 270 sq km eroded per year; The Brahmaputra's erosive power — carrying 735 million tonnes of sediment per year — has eroded approximately 3,890 sq km of Assam's agricultural and forest land since 1950. At the current average rate of 270 sq km per year, Assam loses a taluk-sized territory to the river annually. This erosion is the "anti-accretion" of the char-formation dynamic — chars form in some areas while the original bank erodes. Majuli Island (Jorhat) — the world's largest river island and a unique Assamese Vaishnavite cultural site — has shrunk from 1,245 sq km (1950) to 352 sq km (2023) through erosion, losing 72% of its area in 73 years.; CWPRS Brahmaputra Erosion Study 2022; TERI Assam Erosion Report 2023; Majuli District Administration Area Records

Office-holders

Name	Office	Party · since	Declared cases	Declared qualification	Affidavit
HBHimanta Biswa Sarma	Chief Minister — Home & Political, PWD, Power, Information & Public Relations	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
LPLakshman Prasad Acharya	Governor	—	—	—	—
RKRanjeet Kumar Dass	Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
JMJayanta Mallabaruah	Minister for Finance	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
ASAshok Singhal	Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Medical Education & Research	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
RPRanoj Pegu	Minister for School & Higher Education, Tribal Affairs (Plain), Information Technology	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
PHPijush Hazarika	Minister for Agriculture	BJP· 2026	—	—	—
KMKeshab Mahanta	Minister for Revenue & Disaster Management	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
BBBimal Borah	Minister for Industries & Commerce, Cultural Affairs	BJP· 2021	—	—	—
RTRameswar Teli	Minister for Transformation & Development, Labour Welfare, Tea Tribes & Adivasi Welfare	BJP· 2026	—	—	—

What the CAG found in this state (2)

Findings from CAG audit reports on schemes as they ran in this state, quoted with their report references. We add no grade of our own.

Assam Tea Employees' Provident Fund OrganisationReport No. 4 of 2025 (Performance Audit) · 2025

Coverage of tea garden workers by the provident fund and settlement of family pensions, 2017-22

As of March 2022, 573 of Assam's 1,197 tea estates — covering 39,120 workers — were not under the provident fund scheme at all, though the rules require it. Payment to 1,591 existing family pensioners had been stopped since 2016 because bank details and other documents were never submitted or updated. Between 61 and 90 per cent of family pension claims stood outstanding at the end of every year of the audit period.

What the audit measured

334 tea estates were short of ₹315.45 crore in provident fund contributions as of March 2022, and 83 per cent of them had not deposited for as long as five years. ₹74.15 crore of statutory interest on those defaults was unrealised, and the organisation had not even imposed it on 315 estates. A further 1,994 settled claims worth ₹14.01 crore never reached beneficiaries' bank accounts because the transactions failed — more than half of those from 2017-19 pending over three years. Of 1,146 registered estates, 221 were not inspected even once in three years.

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Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers — AssamReport No. 4 of 2025 (Performance Audit) · 2025

Whether the welfare board knows what cess is owed to it, 2017-22

Assam's construction workers' welfare board had no mechanism at all to know how much cess was receivable, how much had been collected, or how much different agencies had actually remitted. Its budget proposals were unrealistic and its capacity to run schemes weak, so money piled up unspent at year-end even as it accumulated over the years.

What the audit measured

The board submitted its budget to the state government two to eight months late through the audit period. Both the board and its district offices were run by contractual staff and short of manpower at every level. Awareness campaigns and publicity for the welfare schemes were lacking among registered and unregistered workers alike, and the state's supervision of health and safety norms was poor. Meetings of the State Advisory Committee and the board fell short, and the committee was reconstituted late after its term expired.

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Election promises

BJP · 2021BJP Assam Election Manifesto 20213✓7~0✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced10 promises

Women & Social Welfare

Arunodoi 2.0: enhance monthly assistance to ₹1,250 and expand coverage to 25 lakh families
Delivered
Arunodoi scheme (₹830/month direct cash to poor women) enhanced to ₹1,250/month under BJP's second term. Coverage expanded from 21 lakh to 25.5 lakh beneficiaries. Under CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, further enhanced to ₹1,500/month in 2023. Considered the most visible GoA welfare delivery.
Micro-finance loan waiver for women SHG members under distress
Delivered
Assam launched Assam Micro Finance Incentive and Relief Scheme (AMFIRS) in 2021: ₹25,000 to waive microfinance loans for women borrowers with loan up to ₹1.25 lakh. 29 lakh women benefited; ~₹7,300 crore disbursed. Addressed exploitative MFI debt collection practices that had led to suicides in rural Assam.

Agriculture & Tea

Assam Tea Tribes bonus: ₹10,000 cash to every permanent tea garden worker
Partly delivered
BJP promised ₹10,000 bonus to tea tribe workers. GoA disbursed ₹3,000 per worker (2021) and ₹5,000 per worker (2022) — cumulative ₹8,000 in 2 years. Full ₹10,000 in a single year not achieved. Tea tribe vote considered crucial to BJP's 2021 win; this was a key electoral promise.

Flood Control & Infrastructure

Comprehensive flood management: embankment repair and erosion control across Brahmaputra
Partly delivered
GoA invested ~₹5,000 crore in embankment repair and anti-erosion works (2021-25). However Assam floods remain a perennial crisis — 2022 floods displaced 40 lakh people. Brahmaputra erosion consumed 3,000+ sq km of land over decades. NDMA and GoI collaboration on Kaziranga flood protection improved. But structural solutions remain elusive due to the river's dynamic nature.

NRC & Citizenship Policy

Implement Assam Accord clause 6: ensure protection of Assamese cultural and linguistic identity through NRC enforcement
Partly delivered
Clause 6 of the Assam Accord (1985) promised reservation of seats, land rights, and cultural protection for indigenous Assamese people. The Clause 6 Committee submitted a report in 2020 (sealed; not fully implemented). NRC final list (August 2019) excluded 19.06 lakh people — but has not led to deportations as Foreigners Tribunals remain backlogged with 2 lakh+ pending cases. BJP Assam's position has been to implement CAA (relief for Hindu/Sikh/Christian migrants) alongside NRC enforcement — a politically complex balance as Assam's indigenous leadership opposes CAA. Critics note NRC hurt char communities (disproportionately excluded) without demonstrably improving Assamese identity protection.

Oil Accountability & Environment

Ensure Oil India Ltd accountability for environmental damage; expand Assam's oil royalty revenue
Partly delivered
The Baghjan Well-5 blowout (OIL, May 2020 — Tinsukia) burned for 173 days, contaminated the Maguri-Motapung wetland, burned 200+ homes, and killed 2 OIL firefighters. OIL paid ₹550 crore in rehabilitation under NGT orders — but Assam government's royalty share from OIL's new exploration blocks remains a standing dispute with the Centre. Assam receives only ₹2,700 crore/year in oil royalties despite producing ~13% of India's onshore crude. The BJP government filed a claim for revised royalty rates at the petroleum ministry but no revision has been effected.

Healthcare — Atal Amrit Abhiyan & PMJAY

Universal health coverage for all Assam families through Atal Amrit Abhiyan and PMJAY
Delivered
Assam had already launched its own state health insurance scheme "Atal Amrit Abhiyan" (AAA) in 2016 under Sonowal — providing ₹2 lakh/year cashless treatment to BPL families for 6 critical illness categories (cancer, cardiac, kidney, neurological, burns, neonatal). In 2021-25, Himanta Biswa Sarma's government merged AAA with PMJAY to provide a combined ₹5 lakh/year cover. By mid-2026: 60 lakh Assam families (75% of total) are covered. Assam's PMJAY card saturation is 78% — among the highest in North-East India. 4.2 lakh hospital claims processed (2021-25); ₹3,200 crore reimbursed to empanelled hospitals. Infrastructure: Gauhati Medical College expanded (800-bed new block); 14 district hospitals upgraded under National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS). Challenges: 43% of empanelled hospitals are in Guwahati city — rural patients must still travel for tertiary care.

Education & Bodoland Schools

Build model schools in every block; ensure mother-tongue medium education for Bodo, Bengali and Assamese communities
Partly delivered
Assam has a complex multilingual educational landscape: Assamese-medium (state official), Bengali-medium (Barak valley, Char communities), Bodo-medium (BTC area, Kokrajhar), and Hindi- medium (tea tribe communities). BJP 2021 promised 74 'Adarsh Vidyalayas' (model schools — one per block) with CBSE curriculum, English-medium from Class 6, science labs, smart classrooms and sports facilities. By mid-2026: 58 of 74 Adarsh Vidyalayas operational; 16 under construction. Enrolment: Net Enrolment Ratio in Assam secondary schools reached 83% (2024-25) — up from 72% in 2021. However dropout rate at Class 9-10 remains 28% (highest in NE — driven by early marriage among tea tribe girls and agricultural labour demand during harvest season). Assam's teacher vacancy crisis: 24,000 posts vacant (2026) — partly due to APSC/SLRC recruitment freezes during court litigations.

Employment & Swanirbhar Naari

5 lakh jobs; Swanirbhar Naari Yojana for women entrepreneurs; MSME growth in Assam
Partly delivered
BJP's 2021 employment agenda had two tracks: formal government recruitment and private/self-employment through MSME and women's enterprise. Formal recruitment (2021-25): APSC, SLRC and departmental selection boards filled ~32,000 posts (police, teachers, health workers, forest guards, APDCL). Private investment: Advantage Assam 2.0 summit (January 2023) attracted ₹1.25 lakh crore in investment MOUs — of which ~₹18,000 crore has progressed to ground-breaking as of 2026, creating an estimated 45,000 private jobs. Swanirbhar Naari Yojana: ₹25,000 grants to 5 lakh women for micro-enterprise (beauty parlour, tailoring, food processing, handicrafts). By 2025 approximately 3.2 lakh women received grants; 1.8 lakh enterprises active (GoA self-assessment). Assam's unemployment rate fell from 9.4% (2021) to 7.1% (2025-26) — improvement is real but benchmark is weak (NE India baseline is structural underemployment). Total 5 lakh formal job target: not achieved.

Kaziranga & Wildlife Conservation

Protect Kaziranga's rhinos; expand the park; combat poaching with anti-poaching squads
Partly delivered
Kaziranga National Park — UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to 2,613 one-horned rhinoceroses (74% of the world's total, 2022 census) — is Assam's most globally recognised conservation achievement. BJP 2021 promised to make Assam a zero-poaching state and expand Kaziranga's protected area. Progress: rhino poaching fell from 25/year (2014-17 average) to 5/year (2022-24) — a genuine improvement. Expanded Kaziranga Tiger Reserve: 1,625 sq km core + 1,669 sq km buffer (declared 2023), absorbing the Karbi Anglong hills corridor that rhinos use during monsoon flooding. However the annual Brahmaputra flood — which inundates 70-85% of Kaziranga — caused record animal mortality in 2022 (225 animals drowned, including 18 rhinos). The National Highway-37 (4-laning project through Kaziranga corridor) remains the park's single greatest threat — wildlife vehicle collisions killed 34 large mammals (2021-25) along the NH stretch. Elephant corridor encroachment by human settlements in Karbi Anglong district is a persistent conflict.

BJP · 2016BJP Assam Election Manifesto 20164✓5~1✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced10 promises

Governance & Social

Corruption-free Assam: establish Lokayukta and fast-track anti-corruption courts
Partly delivered
Assam Lokayukta Act (2013, under Congress) was operationalised more actively under BJP. Fast-track courts for corruption cases: 6 established. Sarbananda Sonowal government launched ACB (Anti-Corruption Branch) drives; 130+ arrests 2016-20. Corruption complaints to ACB increased but conviction rate remains low (~12%).

Agriculture & Infrastructure

Assam Organic Mission: make Assam India's largest organic farming state
Partly delivered
Assam Organic Farming Policy declared (2017); organic certification process set up. 2 lakh hectares targeted for organic transition. By 2021 about 60,000 ha certified. Assam ranks among top states in organic farming area but not India's largest — Sikkim and Uttarakhand have higher certified organic percentages per total cultivated area.

Tea Workers & Labour

Raise tea garden worker wages to ₹350/day; enforce Plantation Labour Act on healthcare and housing
Not delivered
BJP 2016 promised to raise tea worker daily wages and enforce PLA mandated services. Under Sonowal government (2016-21) the wage was raised from ₹169 to ₹205/day — well below the ₹350 promise. Despite PLA provisions requiring plantation hospitals, housing, and schools, estate owners continued to cut services. 7.5 lakh workers' children remained stunted at 52% rate. Enforcement machinery — the state Labour Department — conducted negligible PLA inspections in the 2016-21 period. The tea wage issue was exploited by BJP in 2021 (promising a ₹10,000 bonus) to maintain the Tea Tribe vote bank.

Peace & ULFA

Resolve ULFA insurgency through peace talks; ULFA-I (pro-talks) reintegration into mainstream
Delivered
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) — founded 1979, at peak 1980s-2000s — waged a 44-year armed insurgency demanding Assam's independence from India. Sarbananda Sonowal government (2016-21) initiated formal peace framework talks with ULFA-PC (pro-talks faction under Arabinda Rajkhowa). The Assam Peace Accord was signed in December 2023 — after the BJP's second term — formally ending the ULFA insurgency. 6,000+ cadres surrendered and were inducted into a rehabilitation scheme. ULFA-I (anti-talks faction under Paresh Baruah, based in Myanmar) remains active but greatly diminished.

NRC & Illegal Immigration — Assam's Core Issue

Implement NRC (National Register of Citizens) to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Bangladesh
Partly delivered
The NRC — mandated by the Assam Accord (1985) and Supreme Court order (2013) — was Assam BJP's defining promise in 2016. Assam's post-1947 politics has been dominated by migration from East Pakistan/Bangladesh, triggering the 1983 Nellie massacre (3,000+ dead) and the 1985 Accord that promised to detect and deport post-1971 immigrants. The Supreme Court-monitored NRC update (2015-19) under the Sarbananda Sonowal government (2016-21) was the most expensive exercise in Indian administrative history — involving 1,000+ registration centres, 52,000 government employees, and a total cost of ₹1,600 crore. The final NRC (August 31, 2019) excluded 19.06 lakh people (of 3.29 crore applicants) who could not prove their citizenship. However the result was politically contentious: (1) BJP leaders declared the NRC was "flawed" as it excluded many Hindus whom BJP considers legitimate citizens; (2) Many Muslims who are genuine citizens were excluded due to documentation gaps; (3) The Foreigners' Tribunals handling appeals have backlog of 1.9 lakh cases; (4) India and Bangladesh have no deportation treaty — making actual deportation of declared non-citizens legally impossible; (5) No nationwide NRC (promised by Amit Shah post-2019) has been implemented. As of mid-2026 the 19.06 lakh excluded persons remain in legal limbo — not deported, not restored to citizenship, unable to vote or access welfare.

Women Welfare — Arunodoi Launch

Launch Arunodoi direct cash transfer to 22 lakh poor women — ₹830/month
Delivered
The Arunodoi ("dawn") scheme — launched October 2020 by the Sonowal government — was one of India's first large-scale gender-targeted direct benefit transfer programmes at the state level. ₹830/month deposited directly into women's bank/Jan Dhan accounts covering food, health and livelihood needs. By the 2021 election it had reached 21.5 lakh beneficiaries. The scheme was transformative in rural Assam: surveys showed beneficiary women in char (river island) areas — among Assam's poorest communities — used the transfer primarily for children's school fees and medicines. Politically, Arunodoi is considered the single most important factor in BJP's 2021 win — Himanta Biswa Sarma (who became CM) credited it as "the scheme that changed everything." It was subsequently expanded under BJP's second term.

Infrastructure — Bogibeel Bridge & NH Connectivity

Complete Bogibeel Bridge; upgrade NH-37/AH-1 to 4-lane; build all-weather roads in Upper Assam
Delivered
Bogibeel Bridge — India's longest rail-cum-road bridge (4.94 km, over the Brahmaputra at Dhemaji-Dibrugarh) — was inaugurated by PM Modi on December 25, 2018, during the Sonowal government's term. The bridge, under construction since 2002, connects Upper Assam to Arunachal Pradesh by road and rail for the first time — reducing the Dibrugarh-Itanagar distance from 540 km to 140 km (road via ferry) to a direct 250 km (bridge). Strategically, Bogibeel provides a critical military logistics corridor to the China-adjacent LAC in Arunachal. Road upgrades: NH-27 (Trans-Arunachal Highway via Assam) and NH-15 (Manipur corridor) improved; the 4-lane upgrade of NH-37 through Kaziranga was approved but became controversial for wildlife impact. Dibrugarh-Naharkatia road (100 km, oil belt) resurfaced. The Rongiya-Narengi expressway (outer ring road for Guwahati, 62 km) DPR completed.

Healthcare — Atal Amrit Abhiyan Launch

Launch Atal Amrit Abhiyan: cashless treatment for 6 critical illness categories for BPL families
Delivered
Atal Amrit Abhiyan (AAA) — launched 2016 under Sarbananda Sonowal — was Assam's state health insurance scheme providing ₹2 lakh/year cashless treatment to BPL families for 6 critical illness categories: cancer, cardiac diseases, kidney failure, neurological disorders, burns, and neonatal care. It predated PMJAY by 2 years and was modelled on the Rajiv Aarogyasri (AP) and Arogyasri (TS) approach. By 2021: 19 lakh families enrolled; 1.4 lakh claims processed; ₹680 crore reimbursed. 127 hospitals (government and private) empanelled. The scheme received the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2018). Post-audit action: 9 hospitals de-empanelled.

Education — Model Schools & Assamese Medium

Establish model high schools in all 126 constituencies; maintain Assamese-medium government schools
Partly delivered
BJP 2016 promised flagship constituency-level model schools. Under the Sonowal government (2016-21): 62 of 126 constituency model high schools (Adarsh Vidyalaya prototype) became functional. SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) Assam saw 14,000+ classrooms constructed. Toilet completion in government schools reached 93% (from 68% in 2016) — a genuine improvement. The Assam Jatiya Bidyalay (vernacular Assamese-medium schools) network: 1,700 schools with 4.5 lakh students, previously run by a trust without state salary — BJP 2016 promised government salary absorption. By 2020 approximately 1,200 of these were absorbed (remaining 500 still awaiting). Mid-day meal: Assam achieved 88% hot cooked meal coverage (2020-21). Controversy: 2019 "teacher rationalisation" policy (merging small-enrollment rural schools with larger ones to optimise teacher deployment) caused rural outrage — 400+ schools merged, displacing students in areas without transportation.

Flood Management — Brahmaputra Embankments

Permanent solution to Assam floods: repair all 4,452 km of embankments; protect Majuli island
Partly delivered
Assam's flood crisis is among India's most persistent governance failures: the Brahmaputra- Barak river system inundates 40 lakh+ people annually, on average. The state has 4,452 km of embankments — built from the 1950s through the 1980s — most approaching the end of their design life. only ₹380 crore/year is spent on maintenance against a requirement of ₹1,200 crore/year; 890 km were breached at least once in 2022. The Sonowal government (2016-21) spent ₹4,200 crore on flood management — but most was for post-flood relief rather than structural embankment repair. Majuli — the world's largest inhabited river island (352 sq km) — has lost 52% of its land area to Brahmaputra erosion since 1950. BJP promised a 'permanent protection plan' for Majuli; work began on a spurs-and-revetment erosion control scheme (₹960 crore, GoI + GoA) but the island lost another 4.2 sq km in the 2022 flood season.