Guwahati: Assam govt on Thursday tabled a bill to amend six state Acts and reduce regulatory compliance.The Assam Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, aligned with the Centre’s deregulation and compliance reduction initiative, seeks to remove outdated regulations and simplify approvals to improve ease of living and ease of doing business.The bill proposes changes in laws governing school and university education, urban and regional planning, fire and emergency services, land reclassification and cinema regulation.According to the statement of objects and reasons, the Centre’s initiative aims to reduce legal, procedural and infrastructural burdens on citizens, institutions and businesses. States were asked to review existing laws to remove outdated restrictions, rationalise eligibility norms and introduce trust-based compliance mechanisms in place of restrictive licensing and prior-permission regimes.“The present bill extends the exercise to sector-specific enactments governing school and university education, urban and regional planning, fire and emergency services, land reclassification and cinema regulation to remove avoidable compliance burden, enabling faster approvals and clearances, and promoting institutional expansion and investment in the State,” commerce and industries minister Bimal Borah said.The proposed amendments will reduce minimum land requirements for lower primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools and allow them to use playgrounds, libraries, gymnasiums and multipurpose halls of govt schools. They will also rationalise land and built-up area norms for private universities.The bill allows govt to set up regional development authorities and prepare regional plans for the balanced development of defined areas. It also permits extension of existing master plans until revised plans are finalised.It seeks to align fire prevention and life safety norms with national building construction standards and allows relaxation of certain building bylaws through notifications.The bill removes the need for prior approval from district commissioners to reclassify agricultural land for MSME units and solar projects, with specified exceptions, and to change one type of non-agricultural land use to another. Applicants will instead submit declarations and pay the required premium. False declarations or unauthorised land use will invite penalties.The amendments also simplify review and appeal timelines and remove outdated restrictions from cinema regulation laws.
