Repeal of land Acts to counter encroachment in Assam

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The first set of obsolete Acts awaiting repeal in the Assembly Session Scheduled beginning from September 12 is mainly of Agriculture, Revenue, Health, Forest, Labour, Excise etc., departments. All these Acts have become redundant after the expiry of their validity.

The Government will repeal the Assam Gramdan Act, 1961 and the Assam Bhoodan Act, 1965 to counter encroachment in Gramdan and Bhoodan lands. The purpose of the repeal of these two Acts is to allow the Government to be the custodian of bhoodan/gramdan lands (estimated to be 10,897 bighas), to take punitive/legal measures in case of unabated encroachment/land grabbing/illegal transfer etc. The Government will also amend the Assam Land and Revenue Regulations (ALRR), 1886 to provide rights to the grantees, optimum/judicious use of bhoodan lands post-conversion to government land, settlement of indigenous occupants on bhoodan/gramdan lands as per ALRR and the Land Policy, 2019.

Also on the list of Acts to be repealed are the Assam Agriculture Pest and Disease Act, 1950; Assam Agriculturist Loan (Extension to United Khasi, Jaintia Hill Districts) Act, 1963; Assam Dadans Act, 1944 and the Assam Debt Conciliation Act, 1936.

The Government will also repeal the Assam Cattle Disease Act, 1948 of the Veterinary Department.

The Bengal Vaccination Act, 1880; Assam Drugs (Control) Act, 1950; Assam Kala-azar Treatment Act, 1949 and the Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act, 2004 of the Health Department are in the pipeline for repeal in the first lot.

The Assam National Park Act, 1968 and the Assam Rhinoceros Preservation Act, 1954, of the Forest Department are also awaiting repeal in the first lot.

The Assam Apartments (Construction and Transfer of Ownership) Act, 2006; Assam Development Authorities Act, 1964; Assam Municipal (Validation of Election) Act, 1957; Assam Non-agriculture Urban Areas Tenancy Act, 1955; Assam Urban Immovable Property Tax Act, 1969 and the Guwahati Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control and Prevention) Act, 2006 of the Housing and Urban Affairs Department are in line for repeal.

The Assembly Session will also repeal the Assam Cement Control Act, 1953; Assam Handicraft Artisan Welfare Fund Act, 1998 and the Assam State Industrial Relief Undertakings (Special Provisions) Act, 1984 of the Industries Department.

The Sylhet Jhum Regulation Act, 1891 of the Soil Conservation Department, the Assam Shramik Bahini Act, 1959 of the Labour Department, Assam Industries (Sale Tax Concession) Act, 1986 of the Finance Department, Assam Excise (Extension to Mizo) District Act, 1961 of the Excise Department, Assam Private Fisheries Protection Act, 1935 of the Fishery Department, and the Assam Press and Registration of Books (Extension to Losai Hills) Act, 1954 of IPR Department will get repealed.

Apart from these, to streamline the functioning of the State Government, it approved the Assam Contingency Fund Act (Repeal) Bill, 2022, to repeal 13 obsolete Assam Contingency Fund (Augmentation of Corpus) Acts enacted from 1953 to 2019.

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