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Assam announces ₹75-cr aid for state’s literary outfits
A statement from the office of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the decision was taken after a meeting with representatives of Asom Sahitya Sabha, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha and 20 other literary bodies here.
The Assam government on Tuesday announced financial assistance of ₹75 crore to 22 ‘sahitya sabhas’ (literary bodies) in the state.
A statement from the office of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the decision was taken after a meeting with representatives of Asom Sahitya Sabha, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha and 20 other literary bodies here.
Asom Sahitya Sabha (the biggest literary body in the state) and the other literary bodies have been protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act which seeks to fast-track citizenship for non-Muslim refugees fleeing religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The agitators in Assam have contended that the influx of migrants from the three neighbouring countries will the rob the region of its identity.
The Assam government will provide ₹10 crore to the corpus fund of Asom Sahitya Sabha, ₹5 crore to Bodo Sahitya Sabha and ₹3 crore each to 20 other indigenous literary bodies as a one-time grant, the official statement said.
The Asom Sahitya Sabha would derive an amount of ₹80 lakh annually as interest from the amount, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha would get ₹40 lakh and other literary bodies ₹24 lakh each, it added.
The state government will also provide one time financial grant of ₹50,000 each to 1,000 new writers of various communities in the state under the ‘Bhasha Gaurav’ scheme. The statement said the chief minister hoped that the scheme would inspire young generation writers to engage in literary works in indigenous languages of the state. He urged the literary bodies to put emphasis on research works for preservation of indigenous languages and culture, and assured help from the state government in this regard.
“The government’s annoucements are part of an earlier representation made by the literary bodies. The people’s movement against CAA would continue. We had submitted a memorandum to government that we are opposed to CAA,” said Dimbeswar Doley, general secretary of Mising Agom Kebang, the literary body of Mising community.
Those opposed to the citizenship law have accused Sonowal of failing to oppose the legislation which they say threatens the indigenous people. The CM has since tried to allay the fears and held meetings with various indigenous bodies, and announced several sops.
