Remembering Tarun Gogoi Through His Contribution To Women Upliftment in Assam

Former Chief Minister of Assam and a veteran Congress leader, Tarun Gogoi passed away on November 23, 2020. He was 86 years old when he breathed his last at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital where he was being treated for post-covid complications.

As per reports, he was admitted on November 2 but in the last 24 hours, his health deteriorated with multiple organ failure. He tested positive for Coronavirus on August 25, 2020.

Gogoi was the CM of Assam for three straight terms (2001-2006, 2006-2011 and 2011- 2016) and each time he ensured that the government was committed to empowering women, youth and the rural people of Assam. In the 7th Annual Event Honouring Women Achievers of the North East 2014-15, Gogoi had said, “Without the empowerment of women, no society or state can forge ahead. A country's progress can be judged only on the basis of how far its women have made strides. It is everyone's responsibility to ensure women empowerment on all fronts.”

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• Under the government of Gogoi, Assam became the first state ever to provide 30 per cent job reservations to women.
• In the year 2015, his government launched the Women and Child Development centre in Assam to improve the situations and address issues of women and child in the state.
• Gogoi also launched ‘Nirbhaya’, a one-stop crisis rehabilitation centre for women and girls in distress. Funded by National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW), the Assam government had set up a state resource to address and meet the issues and needs of women. Under this scheme, every mother of a girl child received 5000 rupees of financial assistance. The girl child also received 5000 rupees separately to assist her family’s financial burden.

Gogoi government had also launched a nutrition mission that ensured that every individual, especially women and children, received enough amount of nutrition. Under the State Committee of Senior Citizens and the Senior Citizen Welfare Council, the government addressed the issues of the senior citizens of the state, both men and women.

Gogoi had launched twin schemes, namely “Baideu” and “Nabou” to provide financial help of 3000 rupees to unmarried women and widows of age above 45 years from below the poverty line. Moreover, the government also planned on providing financial assistance of 10,000 rupees to girls above 20 years of age living below the poverty line during their marriage.

In 2010-11 budget year, Assam government reserved 50 per cent of the seats in panchayat and local urban bodies for women. 20 per cent of the government contracts were reserved for women. Moreover, women got 2 per cent exemption in the fee for registering a land document on their name.

Speaking about the importance of women’s education, Gogoi had said that providing education to women without empowering them was meaningless. He further added, “It's good to see a sizeable section of girls pursuing education in universities, polytechnics, engineering, medical and other institutions.” According to him, in the state of Assam, the demand for the girls' hostel was more than that of the boys.

In order to empower the rural women, the Gogoi's government launched Rural Development Corporation and a Women Development Corporation. The government also decided to set up a platform for buying and selling the products made by women Self Help Groups in rural Assam. “It augurs well for the State that lakhs and lakhs of women are coming out of the confines of their homes and supplementing the income of their families by availing loans from banks...Thanks to the SHGs, a silent revolution is brewing in rural areas of the State,” Gogoi had said.

Gogoi supported women empowerment not only as a chief minister of a state but in his personal life also. He once said in an interview that his biggest inspiration in life is Indira Gandhi and, his wife, Dolly. “Indira Gandhi inspired me a lot, and on various occasion she trusted me with different responsibilities. On the other hand, it was my wife who really looked after me, my children and my home. Without my wife I would not be what I am,” he said.

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