Assam Assembly passes six education bills amid opposition walkout

The Assam Legislative Assembly approved six bills related to the Education Department on Nov 29, amid the absence of opposition parties following a walkout.

Four key amendment bills were passed during the session. The first was the Assam Non-governmental Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

The second was the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Teachers and Re-organisation of Educational Institutions) (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

The third was the Assam Elementary and Secondary School Teachers (Regulation of Posting and Transfer) (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

The fourth was the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Services of Non-teaching Staff of Venture Educational Institutions) (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

The debate on these four bills, all introduced by Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, lasted over four hours.

Opposition members from Congress, CPI(M), and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi said none of their proposed amendments were accepted and requested voting, but the Speaker did not respond.

Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia stressed that the amendments required discussion and voting, supported by CPI(M) MLA Manoranjan Talukdar and Akhil Gogoi. When the Speaker proceeded with the passage, the opposition walked out.

Two additional bills were passed by voice vote. These were the Azim Premji University Bill, 2025, and the North Eastern Regional Institute of Management (NERIM) University Bill, 2025, both introduced on the final day of the Winter Session by Minister Pegu.

Pegu said that the government aims to strengthen Assam’s education system through these measures.

“Today in the Assam Legislative Assembly, along with The Rabindranath Tagore University (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and The Su-Ka-Pha University Bill, 2025, aimed at strengthening Assam’s education sector,” he wrote on X.

He added that the bills would help reorganize institutions, manage fees, and improve staff-related processes.

The opposition argued that the amendments required more detailed review and that the government should have allowed additional time for scrutiny.

With these six bills now passed, structural changes in both school and higher education are set to move forward, though the opposition has said it will continue to raise concerns in future sessions.