GUWAHATI: The Assam government is going to introduce a few strong revenue bills with a view to protecting the lands of the indigenous people of the state.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “My mission is to protect the identity of the indigenous people of Assam, which is under threat due to a major demographic shift.”
Addressing the people of the state on the occasion of the 78th Independence of India on Thursday, the Chief Minister said that the demographic situation in the state has come to such a point that if there is no strong and tough government in Dispur, the indigenous people of the state will have to grapple with problems every day.
He said, “This situation has prompted us to take a few strong measures to protect the lands, including homestead lands, of the indigenous people of the state. To make this happen, the Revenue Department will introduce a few bills in the coming Assembly session.”
He said that the government has decided to enact an act to ensure that the lands of the indigenous and schedules caste people of the undivided Goalpara district do not go to other communities. “This will protect the lands of Koch-Rajbongshis, Nath, Sutradhar, Bodos, Rabhas, and others,” he said.
On iconic places like Barpeta, Majuli, and Bhatadrava, the Chief Minister said that the government decided to enact a strong revenue act to protect the lands in these cultural places.
He said that the government is going to introduce the micro-tribal belt concept to protect the lands of tribal people living outside the notified tribal belts and blocks in the state.
“In the past three years, our government has recovered 167 sq km of forest land from the encroachers of a particular community. We have handed over the reclaimed land to the Forest Department. The state has seven national parks, and now we are declaring Siknajhar in the BTR as the eighth national park in the state,” he said.
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