Guwahati, Nov 21 (IANS) Assam is preparing to roll out a new special policy with rigorous verification measures aimed at curbing the misuse of benefits earmarked for tea garden communities, following the detection of multiple attempts by individuals to secure reservation quotas using fake community certificates.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that the scale of the problem first came to light during the scrutiny process for medical admissions, where inconsistencies in community documents were identified.

In response, the state government took the step of separating the lists of tea garden communities in the Barak Valley and the Brahmaputra Valley, a move intended to help authorities better detect irregularities and mismatches in applications.

According to the Chief Minister, this method of verification will now be extended to government recruitment processes as well.

Addressing the issue, CM Sarma said the government has come across several cases where individuals have attempted to claim benefits meant exclusively for tea garden communities by submitting forged or fraudulent certificates.

He made it clear that such practices would not be tolerated and that stricter checks were essential to protect the rights of genuine beneficiaries.

The Chief Minister emphasised that the purpose of the new policy is to ensure that opportunities and benefits reach the real youths belonging to tea garden communities, who have historically remained socially and economically disadvantaged.

He further stated that the upcoming policy framework would introduce more rigorous verification mechanisms in the process of issuing and accepting community certificates.

These measures would be applied not only during admission procedures in educational institutions but also in various government recruitment processes, where the three per cent reservation for tea garden communities is currently in place.

In a post on social media platform X, CM Sarma reiterated the government’s commitment to safeguarding the interests of the tea garden population.

He said the proposed policy is specifically designed to ensure that only rightful and eligible candidates are able to avail themselves of the benefits under the reservation system and other welfare schemes introduced for their upliftment. The move is expected to bring greater transparency and accountability to the process, while also strengthening the state’s efforts to prevent misuse and protect the integrity of affirmative action policies.

–IANS

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