Assam cabinet approves bill to ban 'magical healing'

Guwahati: To stop magical healing in the name of treatment, the Assam cabinet has approved the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024.

Announcing the decisions of the cabinet meeting held at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Guwahati on Saturday evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Tourism Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said that the state cabinet has approved the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2024, to provide relief to victims of magical treatment in the name of treatment.

"If any person is found guilty of committing the illegal act in the name of treatment or magic healing, they will be punished with imprisonment and a fine. The proposed bill seeks to prohibit and eliminate practices of magical healing in the name of treating some congenital diseases like deafness, dumbness, blindness, physical deformities, autism, etc. It will prohibit such healing sessions completely and provide strong punitive action against healers extorting the poor and downtrodden people in the name of treatment," Baruah said.

The state cabinet also approved establishing the Wildlife Safari & Rescue Centre in Namdang Reserved Forest in Dibrugarh district at an estimated project cost of Rs 259 crore for providing rescue and rehabilitation services for the fauna of the region.

"The Wildlife Safari & Rescue Centre will be featured with international-standard safaris of herbivores, carnivores, and bird aviaries; walking trails and other attractions in a naturalistic setting; a full-fledged veterinary facility catering to the needs of animals; and rescue and rehabilitation services. It will become an attraction for local and domestic tourists, hire about 100 skilled and unskilled staff, and additionally, economically impact the lives of at least 50,000 people in the vicinity of the proposed site by providing opportunities for employment through the provision of services and goods to visitors," Baruah said.

The minister also said that the state cabinet approved the 'Ten Cities Development Concept' (Doh Shaher-Ek Rupayan) to be introduced for ensuring sustainable urban development.

"Ten cities--Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Nagaon, Tezpur, North-Lakhimpur, Bongaigaon, Silchar, Karimganj, Dhubri, and Haflong/Diphu--will be the 'Lighthouse' for other urban local bodies of the state," the minister added.

The state cabinet also approved the Village Defence Organisation (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the bill for amendment of the Assam Municipal Act, 1956, for efficient urban administration, and the proposed bill seeks to define the roles and responsibilities of three state municipal cadastres: Assam Urban Administrative Service, Assam Urban Engineering Service, and Assam Urban Financial Service.

The Assam cabinet approved the creation of 352 posts in the Assam Secretariat Service and the Assam Secretariat Subordinate Service.