At the time when the Congress party formed government in Assam in 2001, the state was under an anarchic situation in every sphere of administration and the public life was troubled with unlimited fear and uncertainty. The secret killing was probably the darkest chapter in Assam's political history when relatives, friends, sympathisers of ULFA insurgents were systematically killed by unknown assailants. These extra-judicial murders which were occurred in-between 1998 to 2001 during the second tenure of Asom Gana Parishad(AGP),the leading regional party of the state which now a part of the present government of Assam.Immedetiately after assuming power in the state the Congress party under the leadership of late Tarun Gogoi sincerely took the responsibility to lessening the fear from the public memory and was very successful in bringing peace within a very short span of time.
Late Tarun Gogoi as the chief minister had been credited with having brought the many militant outfits operating in the state including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to the negotiating table and mitigating militant insurgency within the state. It is noted that when he started his tenure, militant insurgency was at the peak in the State with multiple bomb blasts, riots and violent demands for a separate Bodoland Territorial Region, and militant attacks on Hindi speakers.The congress party under the leadership of late Tarun Gogoi articulated the policy of peace and development to simultaneously push both. Changing the public discourse to peace and development was the greatest contribution of the Congress regime.
The Asom Gana Parishad government during its tenure in-between 1996-2001 had pushed the state’s economy to a devastative condition. There were huge overdrafts and government employees were not given salaries for months. The congress government stabilised the state economy within in its very first tenure and after a long gape of lawlessness the state started a journey in development activities.
One of the major achievement of the Congress led Government in Assam is the initiation of updating National Register of Citizens (NRC).The party right from the very beginning of this updating process believe that it would be the base document of Indian citizens to prevent undue harassment in the name of identification of illegal migrants.
The Congress government offered full cooperation to the initiative of the Vajpayee-led BJP government at the Centre to bring the erstwhile Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) to the peace process. This led to the signing of the second Bodo Peace Accord in 2003 and this accord paved the way for setting up the Bodoland Territorial Council under the amended provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
During the Congress regime 85 lakh people got employment in Assam and the per capita income of the state that was only Rs.13, 059 in 2001, grown to Rs.49, 480 in 2015.
The congress government introduced several new developmental schemes as compared to the AGP regime. More villages were connected by roads with greater disbursal of funds from the Centre. The rate of growth of the Gross State Domestic Product (at 1999-2000 constant prices) jumped to 6.78 percent at the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan in 2011-12 from 1.75 percent in 2001-02.
Under the congress rule the per capita income increased to ₹ 49,480 in the 2015 from ₹ 13,059 in 2001-02, while the GSDP stood at ₹ 1,62,652 crore as against ₹ 38,313 crore during the same period.
The tax collection of the state rose to ₹ 8,177.26 crore from ₹ 1,270.33 crore, while excise revenue went up to ₹ 665 crore in Financial Year 2015 from ₹ 147 crore in Financial Year 2002.
Bank deposits by people increased to ₹ 76,795 crore in 2013-14 from ₹ 10,992 crore in 2001-02. The loans taken by public also rose to ₹ 33,763 crore in the 2015-16 fiscal from ₹ 3,663 crores in the 2001-02 fiscal year.
During the congress rule the agricultural production of the state reached 54.50 tonnes in 2014 compare to 38.54 tonnes in 2001.Similarly ₹ 6,000 crore of agricultural loans were taken in the 2014-15 fiscal year from a negligible amount at the time when Congress assumed power in the state.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-led coalition government during the period of 1996-2001 had been failed in providing even the 10% matching share against 90% of central sector schemes as a special category state brought a grinding halt to development activities in the state. The congress Chief Minister late Tarun Gogoi persuaded late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani to release the central share and relax the norm of mandatory release of the matching share by the state government and very much successful to release funds for central sector schemes, relaxing the norms. The present NDA government has already abrogated this special category status to Assam
It most unfortunate that though the special category status which gives a special privilege of the funding pattern of 90:10 was accorded to Assam during the tenure of AGP, but this regional party had failed to make any rapport with the central government in this regard. In contrary, late Tarun Gogoi as the head of the state not only defended the special category status of Assam but also argued that the state would further lag behind – providing more space for rebel groups like United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) and other armed groups in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao to become stronger – if the funds for central sector development projects are withheld. When the Congress party returned to power at the Centre and Manmohan Singh became prime minister for two consecutive terms from 2004 to 2014 the Assam Government accelerated the scale of development with huge funds flow and higher allocations.
The congress government crafted the idea of development councils for smaller communities as well as the religious and linguistic minorities as a response to the aspiration to enable autonomy and thus created a bigger space to all communities as stakeholders in governance. The 29 councils that were created during the Congress government in Assam were Moran Development Council, Mottock Development Council, Moria Development Council, Gorkha Development Council, Chutia Development Council, Adivasi Development Council, th Jogi Development Council, Koch Rajbongshi Development Council, Bishnupriya Manipuri Development Council, Tai Ahom Development Council, Mech Kachari Development Council, Sadharan Jati Development Council, Singpho (Man Tai) Development Council, Amri Karbi Development Council, Sarania Kachari Development Council, Barak Valley Hill Tribes Development Council, Tea and Ex-Tea Gardens Development Council, SC Development Council, Chaodang Development Council, Madahi Development Council, Kumar Development Council, Hajong Development Council, Sut Development Council, Goria Development Council, Barman Kachari Development Council, Development Council for Karbi people residing outside Karbi Anglong, Hindi Speaking Development Council, Bengali Speaking Development Council and Jolha Development Council.
For the development of women and girl students the Congress Government initiated the formation of self-help groups (SHG) and distribution of cycles that started a new era of woman empowerment in Assam. Reservation of 50% seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions, Municipalities and other local bodies added momentum to the empowerment process while distribution of bicycles brought down the dropout rate of girl students.
To prevent the enduring threat to the indigenous people of the state and safeguarding their linguistic, cultural and social heritage the Congress Party under the leadership of late Tarun Gogoi always defended the 1971 cut-off year of the Assam Accord. He also facilitated the tripartite level discussion between the Central government, AASU and the state government at the prime Ministerial level during the Manmohan Singh regime in 2005.
The length of pucca roads in the state, increased from just 545 km in 2001 to 25,189 km in 2013-14. The addition in national highways in the same period has increased from 2,748 km to 3,791 km.The Congress government constructed unprecedented numbers of concrete bridge which created a new era in the development sector in Assam.
In its 15 years rule the Congress party was very much successful in the Electricity sector. Most of the village had been covered under the electrification scheme and the transmission capacity was increased from 550 MW to 1600 MW.
In education sector following steps and policies were implemented: a)free course material from class I to class VIII;b)free uniform to the students of ST and BPL category;c)Provincialised the job 45000 teachers worked in primary, secondary and higher secondary venture schools;d)during the tenure of 2013-14 around 6802 primary venture schools and 20874 posts were provincialised;e)The government first time introduced TET (Teachers Ability Test) and appointed 52,748 primary teachers ;f) introduced the scheme of providing free laptop to those students who secured first divisions in HSLC,,Highmadrasa and Sanskrit Tol examination;g)established 6 state university;h) established Medical colleges in six places and had taken initiative to establish engineering colleges almost in every district of the state ;
From 2001 to 2016 the Congress Government completed construction and started operation of, Assam Woman University, Bhupen Hazarika Memorial, Auditorium Hall at Guwahati Medical College Campus, Jorhat Medical College, Barpeta Medical College, Tezpur Medical College, Paribahan Bhawan, number of Engineering colleges and institutions across the state, etc.The construction of Dhala- Sadia connected bridge and the second bridge near the existing Saraighat Bridge over Brahmaputra river was commenced during the tenure of Congress Government and almost 90 % of the construction was completed during that time.
The Congress Government reconstructed 310 Animal dispensary campuses and also constructed 135 new sub centres.
In health sector the government introduced a number of health schemes that benefitted the poor people of the state. These schemes were Maajani,Mamata, Maram Sanjeevani etc .The Government also introduced free Ambulance service ‘Mrituynjoy’ for the people of the state .Apart from a huge number of health schemes the government also completed two new nursing colleges, three new Para medical institutions and also offered free helpline facilities to the citizen of the state.
Under the department of Panchayat and rural development a good number schemes like MNREGA, National Pension Scheme, Chief Minister Assam Vikash Yojan,Sampurna Gramin Rojgar Yojana ets were implemented successfully.
The congress had revolutionized the sports environment of the state by organizing the 33th National Games at Guwahati and constructed many world class stadium that includes Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium also known as Sarusajai Stadium, , North East Regional Centre, Tepesia Sports Complex, Sonapur, Hocky Stadium,Bhetapara
and a good number of infrastructures. After the national games these stadiums and infrastructures were used for many other events that includes Rajeev Gandhi Memorial International Badminton Championship, Senior National Table Tennis, Federation Cup Football etc.The major achievement of this government was the 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games which was held in Guwahati and Shillong from 5 February to 16 February 2016 .A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports.