After days of Chief-minister centric anxiety in the state, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma was finally sworn in as the Chief Minister of Assam on Monday. The 15th CM of the state, Dr. Sarma is placed with an uphill as he faces a number of complex challenges. Burdened with a number of problems like finance, general administration, health, unemployment, floods, border disputes, pandemic etc, the next five years will be pretty challenging for the newly elected CM.
So, here is presenting before you the top five challenges the new Chief Minister will face in the next five years:
Challenge One: COVID-19
The biggest challenge right now for Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma is the COVID-19 pandemic which has taken a terrible turn in the state. With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, the state is in crisis and the COVID-19 induced norms have burdened the common man. In such a situation how the new CM will extend a helping hand to the people of the state at this crucial juncture is a burning question. In addition, Dr. Sarma will also have an important role to play in the post-COVID recovery of the state. In this context, the coronavirus is a huge challenge in front of the new Chief Minister.
Challenge Two: Providing Employment
Another big challenge for Dr. Sarma as CM is providing employment to the youths of the state. The BJP party during the election campaigns in the unemployment-hit state had promised government jobs to one lakh youths. Fulfilling the promise will be a difficult challenge for the newly elected CM as creating such employment in the government sector in such a short amount of time will be an uphill task. However, if he succeeds at fulfilling the promise, Assam will become the fastest job creator state in the country.
Challenge Three: Improving the Financial Condition
The poor financial condition of the state is a major challenge for the fresh Chief Minister. The previous government has already piled up a huge debt of Rs. 23,000 crore for the newly formed government. Even though the Assam government has Rs. 7000 crore in its treasury, however, schemes like Arunodoi, fulfilling the promise of waiving Microfinance loans, etc are certainly going to cause huge trouble for Dr. Sarma in the financial field.
Challenge Four: Floods
Floods create havoc every year in the state. Many governments in the centre and state have come and gone but the flood problem has remained unsolved. Meanwhile, the BJP government in its election manifesto had promised to solve the flood problems in the state. However, it will be a difficult task for the CM to provide relief to the Assamese people from the disaster especially during the pandemic when the state is at its weakest.
Challenge Five: Upliftment of the COVID affected Education Sector
The education sector of the state is in shackles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure of the educational institutes of the state for a large part of 2020 due to the pandemic has had a huge impact on students and the educational side. Though Dr. Sarma who was then the education minister has handed over the ministry to someone else, however, it will be a huge challenge for him to uplift the education sector of the state which was already lagging behind even before the pandemic.
This is a very crucial time for Assam. The next five years will decide the fate of the state for the 20 more to come. And the state is in the hands of an experienced and efficient politician Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma. People have high hopes for the first time CM, challenges in front of him are countless, all the cards are stacked against him. Now only time will tell if the 15th CM of Assam overcomes all the odds and becomes one of the best CM of the state or crumbles under all the pressure, expectations and hopes.