Guwahati, Feb 7 (IANS): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government has launched an ambitious initiative to redevelop 500 government schools with state-of-the-art facilities, and the work has begun in several schools across the state.

He asserted that this initiative will bring a paradigm shift to school education in Assam.

CM Sarma was present today at the Palashbari High School in Guwahati where he inaugurated the project to redevelop the school with all modern learning facilities.

He said, "The state government has been spending around Rs 5 to 7 crore to convert each school into a state-of-art form and I believe that this will infuse new energy in the government schools across the state which will bring a paradigm shift to the education sector in the state."

CM Sarma earlier also said that the government is currently building 23 medical colleges, and work on three more would start in a year.

"There were just three medical colleges for a very long time when Congress was in power. We are now building 23 medical colleges around the state, and we plan to start building three more in the districts of Darang, Hojai, and Hailakandi within the next year," he said.

According to CM, there is at least one university in every district that can be found if one travels the entire length and breadth of Assam.

"We have established universities in Hojai, Nagon, Cachar, Bajali, and Lakhimpur - nearly every district in the state has a university under construction or we could finish establishing one," he said.

The Chief Minister added that the government is trying to build a bridge across the Brahmaputra in each district.

He stated, "Together with universities and medical colleges, we are constructing bridges across the Brahmaputra River. No one could have predicted that Assam would develop so quickly. We will soon come under one of the developed states in the country."