The Assam government on Thursday said that 27 seats will be reserved at seven state-run medical colleges for students from the tea tribes, The Hindu reported.

Twenty-four seats for the MBBS course and three for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery Court will be reserved for the students from the community, members of which work across 803 major estates and small plantations.

“Seats for MBBS and BDS [Bachelor of Dental Surgery] reserved for the tea garden communities have been proportionately divided between the Brahmaputra Valley and the Barak Valley,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

For the MBBS course, 18 seats have been reserved for the students of the community from the Brahmaputra Valley, and six have been allocated for those from the Barak Valley. Two seats from the Bachelor of Dental Surgery course have been reserved for students from the Brahmaputra Valley and one for the Barak Valley.

Meanwhile, the Assam government said it will allow conversion of a land allotment certificate to a periodic title deed to a property within three years of allotment in the rural areas, The Hindu reported.

Among other decisions, the government announced financial aid worth Rs 15,000 to priests and namghorias – people associated with Vaishnav prayer halls.

The government also approved Assam Migrant Workers’ Food Security Scheme to provide dry ration to the labourers. The district authorities will distribute the ration to workers whose data is available with the administration.