Dhemaji: Taking a bold stride in fulfilling the government’s resolve towards social equity, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday started the process of distribution land pattas under Mission Basundhara 2.0 from Dhemaji district.
Chief Minister Dr. Sarma personally handed over a few land pattas to beneficiaries of Mission Basundhara 2.0 at a ceremony held at Kachari Field in Dhemaji. Under Mission Basundhara 2.0, a total of 38,000 applicants in Dhemaji district were found eligible for receiving land patta from the Government of Assam.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma said all these years, members of the indigenous communities inhabiting in the State did not have documentary land records to legally claim their possession over the plot of land under their possession since time immemorial. Realising this irony, the State government brought about amendment into the land rights Act, the Chief Minister said. This led to the government deciding to provide land rights to the landless indigenous people, the Chief Minister stated. He said, “I am happy to have started the process of distributing land pattas under Mission Basundhara 2.0 from Dhemaji district, as this process will enable our indigenous landless people to have official documents over his or her plot of land.”
The Chief Minister further added these land pattas shall enable the land-holders to record ownership of their land and empower them to use them as collateral. He said the digital form of the pattas would enable the beneficiaries to trace them in digilocker in the event of the pattas getting lost or misplaced. He added these land rights shall also enable the beneficiaries to enjoy the benefits of other government schemes. Launching the distribution of land pattas under Mission Basundhara 2.0 from Dhemaji is a manifestation of the government’s commitment towards safeguarding the land rights of the people of the state, he remarked.
The Chief Minister said the distribution of land pattas is also an initiative on the part of the government to empower the people. He added that 84 per cent of the beneficiaries under this scheme are from the scheduled caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Other Backward Class (OBC) and other backward communities and therefore, granting them land pattas will ensure their empowerment. He also said the government was committed to wiping out all encumbrances associated with land in the state as a part of its land-reform initiatives. He asserted the government has been taking many revolutionary steps to wipe out the menace of middlemen in land dealings, stated a press release.
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