Amit Shah Union Home Minister on Tuesday launched the Assam government’s newsletter titled ‘Asom Barta‘ (Voice of Assam), coinciding with the first anniversary of the Himanta Biswa Sarma led NDA government in the state.
Amit Shah released the newsletter, claimed as the first by a state government, during the celebration to mark the first anniversary of Sarma’s government and the foundation laying of five government offices and structure at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here.
The newsletter, to be published under the aegis of the state Directorate of Information and Public Relation, would directly engage with citizens to give them the opportunity to learn about the developmental journey of Assam and enable them to stay connected with the government and its policies, its Editor Bishnu Kamal Bora said.
”Assam will be one of the first states in the country to launch its own newsletter and this is expected to bring a new benchmark in direct communication between the government and its citizens”, he said.
The readers will be updated about the latest programmes and policies of the state government while citizens, intellectuals and freelance journalists will have the opportunity to provide constructive suggestions to the government, Bora, who is the Director of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), said.
Asom Barta will report implementation of government schemes and effects of its policies at the grassroots while facilitating the people to stay connected to their legislators and government, he said.
In the first phase, the target is to reach out to one crore readers via WhatsApp, Telegram, E-mail, SMS and with other social media platforms.
Over 10,000 hard copies of Asom Barta will be printed and delivered on a periodic basis to all state government offices at the district and block level and to eminent citizens across the country.
“The first edition is an anniversary special with 16 pages. Asom Barta will be printed in three languages – Assamese, English, and Hindi initially and in due course it will be published in Bengali and other regional languages of Assam”, he said.
