GUWAHATI: The opening day of the Budget Session in the Assam Legislative Assembly saw a heated exchange over whether local youth are actually benefiting from industrial incentives handed out by the state government.
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An opposition MLA (Badaruddin Ajmal) raised the matter under Rule 53, pressing the government to disclose how many local youths have actually been hired by industries that receive state incentives such as GST reimbursement, power subsidies, stamp duty waivers, and interest subsidies on working capital loans.
The MLA alleged that despite receiving substantial financial support from the government, many of these industrial units are largely staffing their operations with workers from outside Assam. He cited figures suggesting that roughly 60% of the workforce in these incentivised industries comes from other states, and called on the government to investigate the matter seriously.
Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass weighed in as well, asking Industries Minister Bimal Borah to periodically verify whether industries are complying with local hiring guidelines. In response, the Minister maintained that the state government takes the issue seriously, noting that the entire rationale behind offering industrial incentives is to create jobs for local youth. He reiterated that current rules require industries to fill at least 80% of managerial positions and 90% of unskilled roles with local hires.
The exchange highlighted ongoing tension between the state's industrial incentive policy and its stated goal of local employment generation, with the opposition pushing for greater accountability and monitoring of compliance.