Are Bangladeshi Muslims in particular and Islam in general, significant problems in Assam?

Assam is being gripped by a fear of existentialism.

It is being widely perceived and discussed that the Assamese identity is in question, and in a few decades Assam will not belong to the Assamese. The biggest perceived threat being the immigration of Bangladeshi Muslims and their reproduction rates. One learned Assamese gentleman told me yesterday that "he knows a Muslim family with 22 children". He further adds that "'their' grandfathers and grandchildren become fathers at the same time, in the same hospital. We are getting outnumbered and at this rate, we won't survive another 15 years".

This is becoming a significant public belief and explains why the BJP is gaining traction in the traditional Assamese bastion. With a record 7 out of 14 MP seats in the states, BJP is busy making it the most significant political problem. Leaders from the largest and the most respected student organisation, AASU - that had given birth to the regional political party AGP, are now joining the BJP. RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are gaining popularity in the grassroots creating Hindu awareness along with fundamentalism and 'Muslim hysteria'.

The fear of existentialism and of the diminishing Assamese identity is leading our societies into a socio-political paranoia, where societies are getting polarised and religion is playing the role of a colonial power dividing the mostly ignorant masses; where propaganda rules the minds and rationalism is booted out of the door. It goes without saying that it benefits the power centres and the 'rich' that powers the power centres.

The tragedy is that religion is so intrinsic to us that it overwhelms reason and analytical thinking.

• It does not matter that it will take 200 years for Muslims to catch up with Hindu population with the current Hindu - Muslim growth rate in India, by when India's population will be 5 times the current global population!
• It is not discussed that the Muslim growth rate has declined in the last decade and that the total fertility rate (no. of births per woman) of Muslims is lower than the illiterate and the poorest fifth of the Indian population (National Family Health Survey). Or that the annual growth rate of Muslim population is slower than the growth rate of Bihar as a state.
• We do not get to read that Bangladesh with more than 90% Muslim population has a total fertility rate (TFR), which is not only lower than India, but also lower than India's Hindu population.
• The year on year growth rate of Muslims in Assam is similar to India, and shows no sign of the supposedly humongous Bangladeshi infiltration that is becoming the most significant issue in Assam overwhelming all other concerns that the state is crippled with.

The tragedy is that Assam is becoming blind to its real problems. Assam today represents a unique juxtaposition of backwardness amidst plenty. The per capita income in Assam in 1950 was higher than that in India. It became 40% lower than that in India by the year 2000-2001. We the Assamese people are not bothered that the growth rate of the economy of Assam has always been lower than the national average. During the 6th Plan period, Assam experienced a negative growth rate of -3.78% against a national growth rate of 6%.

There is a complete lack of a manufacturing sector. There is no private sector, or an environment that promotes the private sector creating jobs for the youth. There is severe power shortage in the state and that puts businesses at a disadvantage. Out of the requirement of around 1400 MW, Assam produces around 260 MW only.

Youths are dropping out from their studies after completing class XII to either join ITIs or to just despair over uselessness of a graduation degree. Almost every other family has lost money giving bribe to secure jobs for their wards. There is a large scale urban migration where Assamese graduates are taking up unskilled jobs like security guards, waiters and factory labour outside of Assam. Needless to say that the best and the brightest minds are also moving out in search of suitable jobs, probably faster than the others. Parents are encouraging this mass exodus with a belief that their children will have a better life outside Assam.

This is creating a knowledge vacuum in the state, which is therefore unable to leverage economic opportunities presented by the globalised world economy in terms of easier trade and information exchanges. None of the new business booms - outsourcing, IT, pharma, FMCG, could even start in Assam. All this is leading to a complete collapse of work culture and a lack of faith that it is possible to achieve a good life in Assam among the Assamese.

Unfortunately, Assam is primarily worried about Bangladeshis, Muslims and their apparent threat to Assamese identity. For argument sake, let us assume that Lord Mountbatten had not agreed to Mohd. Ali Jinnah's two nation theory, and Bangladesh stayed as East Bengal and an integral part of India. Then the Bengali Muslim of East Bengal could have freely come to Assam for better livelihood, or for whatever other reasons. What would have happened to Assamese identity then? Going by the present day Hindu logic, Assam would have become a Muslim majority state by now. It seems that Assamese culture and identity is so fragile that we are surviving only because of what Lord Mountbatten, PM Clement Attlee and the then British Government did 68 years back in 1947! The reality is that Assamese culture and identity has developed and survived over centuries and would have survived the last 68 years as well, if Bangladesh remained as East Bengal. The creation of Bangladesh is largely immaterial to the fate of Assamese identity. In fact, it may only prove to be beneficial.

Bangladesh as a country is doing phenomenally well in terms of economic growth and human development. The real growth rate adjusted for inflation of Bangladesh is 6.1% against 3.2% of India. It is now known as a textile capital of the world. In terms of purchasing power parity as a % of GDP, Bangladesh (9th) ranks higher than India (16%). (A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of all goods and services produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the United States. This is the measure most economists prefer when looking at per-capita welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources across countries.)

If we look at measures of human development such as life expectancy, child survival, proportion of girls to boys in secondary education, Bangladesh comes out ahead of India. As Christine Hunter, UN representative says, “Gender equality is good for economic growth and good for human development. That is really part of what explains the quite remarkable achievements in Bangladesh”. 88% of women are literate in Bangladesh, compared to 68% of women in India, even though the overall adult literacy is lower in Bangladesh (59%) as compared to India (63%). Around 36% of women were in paid jobs in Bangladesh in 2010, up from just 14% in 1990. By comparison, female employment in India has gone backwards from 37% in 2004-5 to 29% in 2009. (ILO data)

I wonder what the Hindu juggernaut in India has to say about such improvement in women development and gender equality in a Muslim country!

If VISA rules are relaxed in Bangladesh for Indians (VISA on arrival for instance), I won't be surprised if Assamese flock to the textile factories in Bangladesh for daily wages. Going by the current statistics of development, it may not be so unrealistic to assume that there will be reverse migration to Bangladesh from Assam.

Even if we assume that the Muslim population is a threat to the majority mainstream Assamese population, however absurd it sounds; then we have to discuss the solution to the threat by understanding the cause of the shift in population trends. We will find that the root cause is again a lack of a work culture (problem of plenty), Assamese leadership (brain drain) and the empty paddy fields lying un-used by the mainstream Assamese population. What we need is socio - economic leadership along with political leadership mandated by the election process. Socio-economic leadership in the field of economics, trade, manufacturing, culture, language et al will keep alive the mainstream Assamese identity and bring in automatic conversions among the masses from the other identities.

In my world view, therefore, Bangladeshi Muslims in particular and Islam in general are not the most significant problems facing the state of Assam. The most significant problem in Assam is the complete and continuing lack of economic progress. A stronger economy increases disposable income, and which in turn patronises culture, language and religion. Unless we create a agricultural cum manufacturing revolution in Assam creating jobs for the youth, improving per capita income and bringing in a positive outlook towards life, Assam will surely face tough times ahead.

A poor economy always faces increasing pressure in terms of supply and demand of essential products and services. Religion, caste and tribal differences brew in such a poorer economy. Fragmentation and feudal behaviour are imminent dangers in a poor economy. Businesses and trade gets controlled by richer societies from across the borders.

Unity is the casualty. Peace becomes the martyr. Culture is long dead by then.

All of us residing in Assam should immediately pledge to have a single focus - to revive the economy. Even a small retail shop contributes to the economy. We have to become entrepreneurs, leverage Assam's advantages and natural resources to start businesses and kickstart the private sector. We must forget the Bangladeshi problem for a while to take Assam into the xonali (golden) path of development, progress and peace.

Nido's Death is a collateral damage. I feel sad.

We tend to respond emotionally to emotions. I know that death does not become easy even if we lose so many young lives accidentally, or suddenly, everyday. I too feel saddened. However, I want to go beyond feeling sad in this case, and try to understand the real cause of such an outburst.

Nido's death is beyond racial discrimination. It is about a social, economic and a political problem.

Human beings like any other animal are territorial by nature. A sense of ownership of a territory happens by virtue of ethnicity, language, place of birth, religion and other such parameters of belongingness. Civilization, education, laws and policing have made us better than animals, and human beings are therefore have become far more tolerant and understanding of territorial concerns.

We have to now understand if there are triggers that can make human beings less tolerant and angry about their perceived territorial rights. In 1998, when I was in Satya Niketan (New Delhi), NE students like me were in almost every 10th house. Today, I am told, we are in every 5th house. Isn't that a little bit of an imbalance?

If you see the number of lonely old parents in the different cities and towns of Assam and the other Northeastern states, you will understand the problem definition that I am expounding here. In my hometown of Duliajan, there are hardly any students studying in local colleges. A rough estimate would be that over 50% students after their 12th standard goes out to Delhi, Bangalore or Pune. Duliajan, being a richer town has these phenomenal proportions, and the proportions are not so high in other towns. But it is quite sizeable and significant.

If this is the level of exodus to supposedly better places outside northeast, and Delhi being the preferred destination for most Northeast students and parents, we may find some triggers that may create instances like Nido, and other similar attacks.

Migration is natural but this level of crazy migration is un-natural and is bound to have collateral damages. The tolerance of the local citizens will be severely tested with such high levels of migration. If the same level of migration had happened towards Assam (or Arunachal Pradesh), armed revolt would have happened killing hundreds. It is common knowledge how Assam had revolutions against outsiders. Even today the climate is tense in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur etc. Manipur does not allow Hindi cinema exhibition for instance. So I may tend to think that Delhi and Mumbai are far more tolerant places as compared to so many other places of India.

We have to understand why are we sending our youths outside the state in such large proportions. There are social reasons and there are political reasons.

The Government has failed to create the confidence in the available local infrastructure. Although Northeast has education infrastructure which can support a lot more students, the Government has failed to maintain the available infrastructure in the highest standards. Primary education has mushroomed all over the region, but secondary education is where the Government had to put a lot more focus.

Secondly, the Government has not encouraged or facilitated the growth of private sector in terms of small scale, medium scale and large scale industries. This has led to the lack of jobs in the region. Government is the only job-giver in the region. Students therefore flock to Delhi and other places to study with the hope that they will get a job as well after their studies.

There is a social pressure as well to send kids outside the region. It is the talk of pride for parents to tell the neighbors about where their kids are studying, or staying. I had migrated to Delhi after graduation, studied post graduation in Ahmedabad and then worked in Mumbai for 16 years. Today I am back to my hometown where I should have been there in the first place. I don't see a reason why we should encourage kids to go outside, live in a new culture and become something that they are not. There are enough and more ways to create value in our hometowns. The problem here is the negative perception about business and entrepreneurship. It is the salary that we seek, and not the uncertainty of business.

We have to understand however that it is entrepreneurship spirt that builds a nation, a state. Gujarat is developed not because of Modi, but because of the relentless entrepreneurship spirit of the Gujaratis. All the communities in India who have a developed entrepreneurship spirit are the communities that are known across the world and are richer than other communities.

Lot many Nidos will happen if we don't reverse the migration trend, which I also call Brain Drain. The government and the people of the region have to get conscious of this problem of brain drain and try to reduce the same. Nido's death in the capital city of India is a collateral damage, like the death of many 'outsiders' in the Northeast. The reason lies elsewhere, and not on racial discrimination like the media has put forth.

Commerce, Economic Development and Naamghars. #Assam

Economic activity is an essential activity for any active society or community. It is more so in the current times of liberalization and globalization.

Economic activity can be defined as an act of creating or adding transaction value to any commodity or service. Creating or adding value will lead to exchange of money between the seller of value and the buyer of value. According to well-established economic theories, more the exchange of money, the better becomes the standard of living for the whole society. This is one of the postulates of Keynesian Economics as well.

Economy of Assam is steadily taking a turn to the worst.  The private sector in terms of creating value through manufacturing, service industry, outsourcing industry, rural industry, etc. is almost non-existent. The ‘Government investments’ (and the black money it generates) alone cannot augur hope to a state or community. Also, it is not the Government that can be solely blamed for our economic condition. It is the citizens of the society, and not the elected body that is primarily responsible.

Assamese citizens have no inherent biological or genetic problem that is stopping them from progressing like the rest of the world. There are no geological or climatic reasons that are significant to stagnate a civilization. There are no annual catastrophes apart from the floods that trouble our economic production. We are a sharp. We place emphasis on knowledge. We are perhaps not known to be traders, but the citizens of lower Assam proves it otherwise. We perhaps just became complacent due to abundance for a long time, and it became our behavior and attitude.

It is time we realize and get back on track. It is necessary that each one of us engage ourselves in some sort of economic activity. We all have to add value to live a good life, and for Assam to prosper. The common question is ‘what is that economic activity?’ In my various trips to Assam, I have seen the youth of Assam desperately in search of the answer to this question, almost to the point of extreme frustration. It is a state of helplessness. We have to understand that it is obvious in the scenario of any state or country facing economic depression or stagnancy, and lack of honesty in political leadership. The youth is always the most effected.

The possible economic activities get hidden in the dark clouds of depression, ignorance and exploitation. It becomes a ripe environment for the powerful to exploit, giving rise to the perception that exploitation is the only way to lead a good life. The intent of exploiting gives rise to the act of corruption. It is an obvious analogy therefore that corruption has a relation to the perception of the lack of economic opportunities. As we have seen in Africa and East European countries, corruption is always a greater evil in under-developed economies. Without proper economic activity to create wealth, corruption through contacts, muscle power, and political power becomes a norm.

In Assam, as well, we can see this phenomena taking concrete shape. Earning money through corruption, bribes and other morally incorrect ways has entered so deep into us that it is becoming an accepted evil. Bridegrooms are judged basis his ability or Government job position to take bribes or ‘bahira poisa’.

The private sector has hardly developed in Assam. Agriculture except for Tea is primarily done for personal consumption. Private manufacturing sector is almost non-existent. Assam produces 60% of the Bamboo production and has a significant Water Hyacinth production, but it has not become mass business opportunities. Trading of goods and services is a size-able economic activity, but the Marowari immigrant community is predominantly managing it. Apart from its natural wealth, Assam can be a hub for various outsourcing businesses like technology, BPO and KPOs.

So, it is a irrefutable truth that there are a lot of opportunities for creation or addition of value in Assam that can have demand both inside and outside the state of Assam. With the world becoming a smaller place through Internet and other infrastructural progress, and knowledge becoming the key to economic growth, the opportunities are over-whelming.

The actual question therefore is to answer ‘how to create awareness of these opportunities for all of us?’

This is where I would like to take the name of our great saint and social reformer - Srimanta Sankaradeva. He instituted the concept of 'Naamghar' ahead of its times as a place of congregation. Naamghars were instituted as a place of purity where communities irrespective of caste, creed and religion, can get together and form the basis of living in peace, prosperity and unity.

Srimanta Sankaradeva always maintained the philosophy that 'To err is human'. He believed that we are mere mortals and it is impossible to conquer all negative thoughts. He believed in controlling the negative thoughts, rather than in expecting a miracle that all of us will become saint-like, truthful and honest. He believed that if we as a community get together in a holy place everyday or frequently, we can control our negative / evil thoughts. This was perhaps the reason why he thought of the concept of Naamghar to be built as extensively as possible. He built naamghars wherever he went through out his living life.

Naamghar is an active institution even today for over 560 years. We see a Naamghar in almost every nook and corner of the state of Assam. It is a place where the community offers prayer (Naam / Kirtaana) as a group. There is an atmosphere of holiness, which can breed positive thinking. 

These naamghars can become our bed of economic activities in Assam, for all of us, for all Assamese people.

Naamghars can bring together people of all ages (wisdom), all professions (knowledge), and all faiths (culture) to create a productive forum of people collaborating and cooperating for the overall progress and development of the village or locality.

Every village and town has its unique strengths, natural resources, skills and opportunities. Secondly, every village and town today has people staying outside of Assam and India. If we give ourselves one hour for compulsory economic discussions and debates in the naamghars, we will automatically come out with ideas and the ways to execute them. We will find out help and support through social network in terms of finances, knowledge, labour etc. and economic activity through collaboration can be started.

I know it is easier said than done. We have various problems today in the way the various naamghars operate in a very non-inclusive way. It has become the place for retired Assamese and the elderlies. Over the years, it has become more of a religious centre for neo-vaishnavite traditions. We have to first list down these problems facing the institution of naamghars, address them and create overall awareness about the great contribution that naamghars can generate for the upliftment of the Assamese society, in a egalitarian and class-less way.

There are examples of Naamghars where participation of youth in its administration process has created wonders for the society. The youth brings in a new perspective in line with the times, and above all brings in enthusiasm in everything a Naamghar stands for.

Assam has one of the largest socio-religious organizations in the world called the Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha. It has over 6000 primary units with a cultural and literary wing. It has recently started bank operations to facilitate micro-credit. It is great news and a step towards economic progress. All the Naamghars of the Sangha are well connected, and can take the lead in the transformation of Assam towards economic progress.

I shall soon start discussing this thought with the Sangha naamghar in Duliajan, Assam. I request all of you who support this thought process to come forward and take this forward in their own villages and towns. You can contact me at durlov@hotmail.com for a discussion of how to make this a mass movement.

It is the time of the youth. It is the time of new ideas. It is not long that Assam will again become a developed state with a comfortable standard of living for all its population.

Delhi Rape Incident - Danger Sign of a Dual Society

My time with Twitter severely increased, for the hashtag #delhirape kept me angry, frustrated, curious and sarcastic; all at the same time.

Most of the tweets said what Napoleon Bonaparte had said over 200 years ago, "The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely."

Indeed the rapist should be publicly punished severely.

The other majority of tweets were a bit of a concern. They were of women shouting their words of anger and wisdom about how females are being taken for granted, coerced and exploited. Any tweet condescending to femininity were thrashed and castrated. 

There were tweets by a few men of reckoning, expressing that girls should be accompanied by elders at night for safety. They didn't know what hit them before they could even read their own tweet.

Although, it is sad that it took a heinous crime like rape for the citizens to come out in protest, yet it is a delight because Democracy works best when people claim it as their own, and participate. We should hope that this protest ultimately concludes into the reasons behind such a heinous social phenomenon of raping a women.

This is not the first rape and we have seen that rapes were rampant even during the protests across the country. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the incidents of rape went up by 873 percent between 1953 and 2011. This is three times faster than all cognizable crimes put together and three-and-a-half times faster than murder. Between 2007 and 2011 alone, rape incidents have increased by 9.7 percent. This is reported figure and we can fairly add a multiplier to these statistics.

I am not a social scientist, but I am a keen observer who have spent 37 years in this country. I have experienced this country before social media, before economic liberalization, and during Doordarshan. I have seen the times when two flowers connoted kissing in movies. I have been in the cusp of time when joint families were dis-integrating into nuclear families.  I have seen tennis transform from knee length skirts to bum-length skirts, while the shorts of the men tennis players perhaps increased in length.

The most critical change that I have seen is what media, satellite television and Internet  have brought in. The information about the glamour and lifestyles of people living in Mumbai (or any metro) became known to people living in villages. Sadly, it was the content that got broadcasted across the country without the accompanying context. 

India was always disparate in terms of income, culture and lifestyle, but it was not known and seen. Now, with technology, the perceived disparity is much more than actual disparity... and it is growing between the have's and have-not's. It is not about the economic disparity alone. It is not  about the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. Socio-cultural disparity in terms of identity is the concern that I would like to bring forth here. This is an alarmingly increasing disparity and a dichotomy is being created in terms of social attitude, expectations and perceptions about life. It is this polarization in terms of thoughts and world-view of things that concerns me.

With the Internet revolution and media, the world is changing too drastically. More drastically for a country like India, where education and economy could not and is unable to keep pace because of the sheer population, diversity and vastness of the country. And of course, lack of a visionary governance.

If I compare how I used to perceive a short skirt when I was 15 years old, with a 15 year old of today, I feel like I was a pervert. Fortunately, I was part of the drastic change. I was not a mere spectator to the change. I am afraid that the majority of the Indian population are mere spectators. There are a whole lot of 15 year olds who are stuck in time and have not graduated to this new age.

We have created an atmosphere of dual societies. A dual society contains two worlds in one: the Third World and the First World coexist within the same nation, under the same authorities and the same flag. Both are disparate in terms of access to benefits of education, of employment, standard of living, media and proximity to globalization of thought processes. These societies don't understand or relate to each other.

A simple case of dual society creation is the housing development that is happening in Mumbai through the 'Slum Rehabilitation Schemes'. The builder clears the slum, makes a sub-standard multi-storeyed building with tiny rooms to accommodate the slum population, and then makes a plush building with all club amenities for selling to the rich. The plush building brings in people with no history and similarity to the local population, people whose attitudes and lifestyle is different, and mostly un-acceptable to the local population.

The above example, although dangerous, is very mild. The disparity that non-egalitarian policies regarding education, employment and media can bring, is much more swift and over-powering.

Dual societies are ticking bombs waiting for explosion. Today it is an increasing trend on rape incidents, tomorrow it would be incidents of robbery and terrorism. This is where the policy makers of India has to act. Duality in society acts as a break for change and progress. It often leads to dangerous social phenomena like we have seen in the hashtag #delhirape.

The other conclusion to draw here is that lets not make this an episode of fight between genders. In a dual society, women are not safe. Period. Even man are not safe. I have heard of a female housemaid boiling a baby in a pressure cooker. I have heard of a housemaid poisoning the entire family during dinner. I have heard of a college kid stabbed and murdered by slum neighbours when he was trying to save one girl from eve-teasing.

So believe me that it is not about gender. It is about the unequal society and wider generation gaps. Let us all be responsible citizens and do whatever we can to have an equal society in terms of thinking, attitudes, and lifestyle. The haves should control their urges and be more sensitive towards the have-nots. Similarly, have-nots need to be given opportunities to cross the barrier.

It is quite a difficult task considering that we, as a nation, are a selfish lot. We consider the Ganga as a sacred river for a holy dip, but hardly bother for the next person who is coming to take a dip. We have to start thinking as a nation, as a team.

Till then, there would be only arguments, protests and tweets.

Domestic Brain Drain - Antidote to Progress !

There is a question that is troubling me for some months now. What made me decide to build my career outside my home - Assam?

This is an important question. If some of us believe that Assam can be a happy prosperous place by becoming sovereign or otherwise, it would not be possible if we decide to leave Assam in hordes at the slightest possible assumption of trouble or opportunity?

15 years back, I don't even remember if I even gave a thought to the option of staying in Assam. My parents always wanted me to explore. It was obviously certain to me at that time that I was not doing my Masters in Assam. It was obvious that grass is greener in Delhi (or Mumbai).

Today, I don't seem to understand why was it so obvious that it was easier to build a career in a city which I had never seen and known? Was it the influence of media that we read, saw and heard? Was it the greed for a good life as portrayed by the media? Was it just cooler to look part of the happening cities?  Or was it just hopelessness that nothing can happen in Assam?

Today after spending 12 years in Mumbai, I am not sure if it was easier in Mumbai or if I am better today? Yes I am richer than my parents hoped.

On the flip-side, I am 37. I am divorced. I have no kids. My parents are alone in Assam. I am in a place which I can't call my own. I can't relate to mischal-pao, coconut gravy, and bada-pav. I don't have neighbours, khura-khuri, borma-jethai.  I don't understand the local language and culture to relate to Ganapati, Navratri etc. Husori nedekha bohu bosor hol (Its been years that I celebrated Bihu).

Also, I see that many of my friends, brothers and sisters in Mumbai are not as lucky. They are struggling hard to survive the city, with the hope that things will be better some day. There are 'strugglers' in the television and film industry. There are security gaurds, waiters, salesman...and the list goes on... with just hope.

Is it that hope that brings us out of Assam? Is there no hope that rupohi axom (beautiful Assam), as Dr. Bhupen Hazarika had said, will ever be a reality? Or is it that we don't have the vision to build Assam, as we work hard to build our individual careers? It is evident that if we just work hard individually building our own careers in Assam, Rupohi Axom will be built.

That didn't struck me when I was growing up. We all get suck up to the lure of migration, which is nothing but brain-drain. I didn't think that I have to earn 5 times more in Mumbai (or Delhi) to live the same life, as I was living in Assam. I didn't understand the pain of living away from your school friends, family and parents, of our kids learning Hindi more prominently than Assamese, of missing the smell of the wet earth of Assam.

I would like to say in BOLD that its not TRUE that staying back in Assam is a regressive thought. And making a career in Mumbai (or any metro) is any easier. 

It is time that we bring talent, knowledge and resources back to our home states. Internet and Mobile is bringing the world closer, and enabling opportunities for everyone. Businesses have become easier to operate.

Assam is rich in many natural resources and has a relatively healthy literacy rate of 73.18% as per the 2011 census. The wage cost of labour is also lower. It has a few infrastructural bottle-necks such as road and electricity, but that would improve once citizens of the state become productive economically.

With FDI in multi-brand retail, Assam can garner investments to have cold storage facilities, giving a boost to organic farming and the food processing industry. Likewise, there are opportunities that can be tapped in various out-sourcing models of business (BPO, KPOs, MPOs etc). Technology related outsourcing (software development, search marketing etc) can also be taken by the youth of the state, to bring in finances into the state.

It is a high time that all of us staying and working outside Assam should help in this cause and drain our brains a bit to start the economic engine of the state of Assam. Migration of labour into the other states has to stop, and like the earlier days, every Assamese village, cities and towns should become self sufficient, flourishing and happy.