Guwahati, Nov 8 (IANS): Assam government has decided to invest at least Rs 135 crore in the Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF) for construction of three cancer hospitals across the state.

A total of 10 cancer hospitals will be built in a phased manner with three coming up in the first phase and rest in the second.

The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday evening in Guwahati.

The cost for the first phase of hospitals being built in Silchar, Guwahati, and Diphu which is around Rs 135 crore will be released by the state government.

Seven cancer hospitals will be set up in Dhubri, Nalbari, Goalpara, Golaghat, Nagaon, Sivasagar, and Tinsukia in the second phase.

Jayanta Malla Baruah, state minister for tourism, told reporters here, "Once completed, the hospitals will generate at least 8,000 employment."

In order to effectively support the impoverished with healthcare, the council of ministers has resolved to disburse Rs 133 crore under the "Free Drugs and Consumables for Government Hospitals," which includes Tea Garden Hospitals.

Additionally, he noted that as per the cabinet, starting December 1, state government employees will receive 4 per cent more in Dearness Allowance (DA). Two equal installments, the first due in December 2023 and the second in April 2024, will be used to pay the arrears, which are effective from July 2023 to November 2023.

With this increment, the overall DA of the state government employees will stand at 46 per cent, he said.

Baruah also announced that from December 1, school children in the riverine zones covered by PM-POSHAN will get three eggs each week along with their midday meals.

In order to guarantee the best possible use of available resources, it was also agreed to place the English Language Teaching Institute (ELTI) under the State Council of Educational Research and Training's (SCERT) administrative jurisdiction.

The state government will convert the grants-in-aid to electricity businesses in the state, which totaled Rs 5435.80 crore before 2021–2022 and Rs 1099 crore during 2021–2022 and 2022–2023—into equity as an investment, the minister announced. This decision was taken at the meeting.

According to the minister, it was also decided that the state government's grants-in-aid of Rs 318.98 crore, which were given to Guwahati Smart City Limited (GSCL), would be transformed into investments for the government's purchase of properties in the form of equity.