SILCHAR | The Assam government has formally renamed the ‘Mini Secretariat, Barak Valley’ as the ‘Assam Secretariat, Barak Valley, Silchar’, following a decision of the state Cabinet.

A government notification issued on August 21 said the new name would come into effect immediately. The notification also specified the departments that will operate from the Secretariat’s Barak Valley establishment in Silchar. As many as 32 of Assam’s 59 government departments will function from the Silchar-based Secretariat, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier announced.

The move is aimed at strengthening the administrative machinery in the Barak Valley and improving the delivery of government services and implementation of development programmes in the region. The decision to rename the establishment was announced by Sarma on August 18 after a Cabinet meeting. The Chief Minister said the existing mini secretariat would henceforth be officially recognised as the Assam Secretariat, Barak Valley.

The Cabinet has also approved the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines governing the functioning of the departments from the Barak Valley Secretariat. The government’s decision marks a significant change in the administrative identity of the Silchar-based establishment and is part of its broader efforts to decentralise governance and improve administrative access for people in the Barak Valley.