A for Assam: How PM Modi brought a New Era of Peace and Prosperity
Twenty-five years ago, on 7 October 2001, Narendra Modi Ji took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, marking the beginning of 25 continuous years of public service as an elected head of government. In 2014, he took oath as the Prime Minister of India, bringing that journey of public service to the national stage. Looking back at that journey, Assam offers a powerful lens to understand the transformation that his leadership has helped bring about. PM Modi Ji once envisioned that “the day is not far when the children of the country will learn ‘A for Assam’.” That vision is steadily taking shape in a state once held back by prolonged conflict, now emerging into an era of durable peace and laying the foundations for sustained growth and development.
Growing up in Assam, there were things that became part of everyday life that should never have been considered normal. Roads blocked by bandhs. Journeys disrupted without warning. Schools and markets closed. The uncertainty of whether a normal day would remain normal. For those of us who grew up here, therefore, peace is not an abstract idea. It is something we can feel in the ordinary things that no longer have to be feared.
Assam had lived through decades of unrest, with insurgency at one time affecting almost the entire state. Over those years, thousands lost their lives, while bandhs and blockades could disrupt normal life for more than 100 days in a year. For ordinary families, reaching work, sending children to school, travelling between towns or simply planning the next day could never be taken for granted. There was a time when living an ordinary life was itself a privilege.
Even in the decade before 2014, the scale of the problem was stark. Between 2005 and 2014, Assam recorded 3,118 insurgency-related incidents. In those ten years, 1,322 civilians lost their lives, meaning that, on average, insurgency claimed a civilian life roughly every 2.8 days. There were also 866 reported kidnappings. An average of around 312 insurgency-related incidents every year meant that, for years, violence was almost a daily reality.
The contrast today is profound. In the last decade, insurgency-related incidents have declined by 93 per cent. The number of security personnel killed has fallen by 95 per cent, while civilian deaths have declined by 96 per cent. Kidnappings have fallen by 94 per cent. Most significantly, for several recent years, Assam has recorded zero civilian deaths and zero deaths of security personnel due to insurgency-related incidents.
The significance of this transformation cannot be captured by percentages alone. Every civilian life lost meant a family carrying a wound for generations. Every kidnapping meant a household living with fear and uncertainty. Every blockade meant lost wages, disrupted education, cancelled journeys and another day in which ordinary life was put on hold. The disruption had a wider economic cost. When PM Modi Ji assumed office as Prime Minister, Assam was bearing the consequences of prolonged disruption, with bandhs estimated to have cost the state around ₹3,000 crore, affecting economic activity across the state.
Today, the ability to work without fear, send children to school, travel freely and plan for tomorrow is itself one of the most profound dividends of peace.
The change was not achieved by security measures alone. It required the political will to address longstanding aspirations, the courage to talk, and the patience to negotiate. Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, dialogue was taken towards settlements, surrender and rehabilitation. The Bodo Accord of 2020, Karbi Accord of 2021, Adivasi Peace Accord of 2022, DNLA Peace Agreement and ULFA Peace Agreement of 2023 marked important milestones. Alongside them came inter-state boundary agreements with Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
Crucially, peace meant more than asking people to lay down their arms. More than 9,000 people from armed groups in Assam have surrendered, joined the national mainstream, and are now contributing towards development of Assam and the nation. Their journey from insurgency to nation-building is perhaps the most powerful expression of reconciliation.
The geography of insecurity, too, has contracted dramatically. Areas once covered by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act have been reduced from the entire state to just three districts. As the security environment improved, the world’s perception of Assam began to change. Australia, Japan and all 27 European Union member states have revised their travel advisories for Assam, acknowledging the significant improvement in its law and order situation .
That change is visible on the ground. Assam has welcomed more than 6.04 crore tourists over the past decade, including 2,41,192 foreign visitors. The same state once viewed through the lens of security concerns is increasingly being viewed as a destination to visit and experience, and as a place to invest in and engage with.
The transformation is equally visible in the economy. Peace has begun to acquire an economic meaning. At a time when Assam once struggled to attract economic activity amid uncertainty and disruption, the state is now attracting investment proposals running into lakhs of crores. At the Advantage Assam 2.0 Summit in February 2025 alone, the state attracted investment proposals worth nearly ₹5 lakh crore. Over the last decade, Assam’s GSDP has more than tripled. Recent RBI-linked analysis has identified Assam as the fastest-growing state economy over FY2020–FY2025. Peace has allowed Assam to look beyond survival and towards possibility.
For those of us who grew up here, the change is not abstract. We have seen roads that once emptied become routes of movement and commerce. We have seen schools, markets and livelihoods no longer held hostage to the uncertainty of violence. We have seen a state that once looked inward under the weight of insecurity begin to engage with the country and the world with renewed purpose. The Assam of our childhood and the Assam we see emerging today are not the same.
This is where the meaning of Seva becomes tangible. The ideal of Seva that has defined PM Modi’s 25 years in public life rests on a simple principle: progress must ultimately be felt in the lives of people. In Assam, his leadership has helped make peace durable enough to support development, investment, tourism and nation-building.
Twenty-five years of public service is therefore more than a milestone to commemorate. In Assam, it can be measured in the distance between the state we inherited and the state we are building.
Perhaps that is what “A for Assam” points towards: an Assam whose defining story is no longer one of conflicts, insurgency and disruption, but of a state emerging as a vital bridge between India and the wider region, a destination for global investment and tourism, and the growth engine of Bharat.
For Assam, that is a transformation worth remembering. And for those of us who have lived it, it is a transformation worth being grateful for.
A for Assam, indeed.
Written by – Shri Pabitra Margherita,Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles
