Assam government today allotted land deeds to over three thousand people. (FILE)
Ahead of the next year's assembly polls in Assam, the BJP-led government today rolled out the second phase of its pet project of giving land to landless indigenous communities. The state government today allotted land deeds to over three thousand people at a function held at a college playground in Majuli district. With this allotment, more than one lakh indigenous people secured their rights on their lands.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on the occasion announced that his government would relentlessly pursue to fulfill all the demands of Assam Accord.
In yet another land document distribution event in Jorhat, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that in the last four and half years, the government has freed 13, 362 bighas of land from the encroachers.
In the 2016 assembly polls in Assam, when the BJP and its allies defeated the Congress to establish a BJP-led government for the first time in the state, the party fought the polls on the promise of securing and safeguarding Jati (Community), Mati (land) and Bheti ( hearth or homeland).
Chief Minister Sonowal also said that his government is also committed to fulfill Clause VI of the Assam Accord and publication of a flawless NRC in the State.
Mr Sonowal said that after coming to power, he himself went to see the progress of fencing works along India-Bangladesh border and with the help of the Central government, concrete and pragmatic steps were taken to seal the border.
He further said that as a mark of tribute to the supreme sacrifice of the those who died in the Assam Agitation. The family members of those who died the agitation were provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 5 lakh each and those who sustained injuries were given Rs 2 lakh each. His government took steps to make the sattra lands free from encroachment.
"If one happens to go to Barpeta, one can see how the villages and voter list has changed. Just take the voter list of 1960, 1971 and compare the same with the present one, one can see the change. One can realize the challenge faced by people. In several places, government lands were encroached. Facing the onslaught of encroachment, sattras (neo-vashnavite monasteries) shifted to safer places. There are instances when individuals have encroached 200 to 300 bighas of land. In the process, motifs of Sanatan culture were lost or were in the process of being lost" Himanta Biswa sarma said in Jorhat.
Barpeta is one of the Bengali speaking Muslim-dominated district in the state where the Congress and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF has done well in the last assembly polls.