Assam govt to sponsor visit of 25,000 pilgrims to Ram temple at Ayodhya

The state government, in its Budget, also announced funds for development of Batadrava Than, Barepta Satra and a few other Vaishnavite monasteries.

Guwahati: The budget presented by the BJP-led government in Assam on Monday proposed to sponsor visits of 25,000 pilgrims to the Ram temple at Ayodhya this year.

Presenting the budget in the Assembly, finance minister Ajanta Neog said that Rs. 25 crores have been earmarked to sponsor the pilgrimage to Ayodhya under a new scheme, Punya Tirtha Yojana. This will be in addition to a similar Punya Dham scheme under which pilgrims are supported in their journeys to sacred places such as Puri, Vrindavan and Varanasi. "Srimanta Sankardev described Lord Ram as purna Brahma avatar. So people of Assam are very happy over the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. And there were a lot of requests for sponsoring a pilgrimage to Ayodhya," CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said outside the Assembly after the budget was presented by Neog.

Heritage belt and blocks: 

The budget also proposed to declare the land in Batadrava, Barpeta, Majuli and Narayanpur, the major centres of Vaishnavite religion and culture, as heritage belts and blocks. This will prohibit the non-indigenous people from buying land around the Vaishnavite heritage sites. "Accordingly, we will come up with suitable legislation to ensure that the land surrounding these locations is transferred only to indigenous persons/institutions," said the budget.

The budget announced an allocation of Rs. 240 crore for development of Batadrava Than at Bardowa, the birth place of Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardev, Rs. 15 crores for Patbaushi Satra at Barpeta and Rs. 5 crores for Kamalabari Satra at Titabor and Rs. 2 crores for Srimanta Sabkardev Satra at Barangajuli in Udalguri district.  

The decision to declare the heritage belts and blocks as the BJP government's move to prohibit the immigrant Muslims from buying such land. The Sarma-led government had earlier evicted many who had allegedly encroached upon land of such religious sites. BJP had claimed that "Bangladeshi Muslims" had encroached on the land.  

Sarma said the steps are part of the government's efforts to dispel the fear among people about culture and identity of the Assamese people since the "anti foreigners movement" (1979-1985).    

Flood free Assam: 

The Budget also said that at least 271 wetlands have been identified through satellite mapping for diversion and storage of flood water in order to adopt a new approach to address Assam's annual flood problem. The BJP government at the Centre had promised to make Assam flood-free by 2024. "Earlier, our approach to tackle floods was construction of embankments. Now we are moving ahead with a new approach. This year, experiments will be done in seven wetlands," Sarma said. The budget earmarked Rs. 200 crores for the same. 

Child marriage:

The Budget announced a special admission incentive scheme for 10 lakh girls to ecnourage girls education, which according to Sarma, was part of his government's efforts to check child marriage in the state. Over 5,000 cases of child marriage were registered and 4,000 people were earlier arrested under Sarma government's drive against child marriage. The budget also proposed to reserve three per cent jobs for tea garden workers, special financial assistance to Assamese cinema and Bihu committees, beside others.