Guwahati: On a day dedicated to the Father of the Nation, Sivasagar MLA and Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi sat down outside the Assam Legislative Assembly complex and declared an indefinite statewide agitation, accusing the state government of failing to deliver on its own flood relief deadline.
Gogoi said the government had set October 1 as the final date for disbursing interim financial assistance of ₹15,000 to each flood-affected family in the worst-hit districts of Upper Assam. According to him, that deadline has come and gone, leaving 30 to 40 per cent of eligible households in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat and Golaghat still empty-handed. Families in Sivasagar and Charaideo, he claimed, have also not received the additional ₹10,000 special assistance announced for the most severely affected areas.
“The government’s deadline has passed, leaving nearly half of the flood victims empty-handed. We are launching this agitation on Gandhi Jayanti to fight democratically for the rights and survival of our people,” Gogoi said as he began the protest.
The Raijor Dal leader is demanding more than the interim package. He has called for ₹10 lakh compensation for every family that suffered major losses to homes, land or livelihoods during the floods, and has reiterated his long-standing demand for a CBI inquiry into the causes of the devastation that hit Upper Assam earlier this year.
The agitation marks the latest chapter in a campaign that has already seen hunger strikes, public rallies and a large gathering of flood victims at Chachal in Guwahati last month. Gogoi has written to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma detailing the pending payments. As of Friday afternoon, the government had not issued a formal response to the fresh allegations.
Supporters and party workers gathered around the Assembly premises as Gogoi settled in for what he described as an open-ended struggle. The protest, he said, would continue until every eligible family receives the relief that was promised and until the larger questions of compensation and accountability are addressed.