Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday directed Revenue Department to implement the recommendations of the Hari Shankar Brahma Committee on Protection of Land Rights of Indigenous People to protect their rights over land.
To ensure land rights of the indigenous people of Assam, the state government constituted a high level committee in February last year. Led by former Chief Election Commissioner Hari Sankar Brahma the six-member committee on Protection of Land Rights of Indigenous People travelled at length and breadth of the state and formulated two reports. Contained with 180 recommendations including protection of land rights of the indigenous people, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal asked the Revenue Department to execute the recommendations of the reports prepared and submitted by Hari Sankar Brahma and Srikumar Dohutia and the other by four members of the committee namely Rohini Kumar Baruah, Ramesh Borpatragohian, Anil Bhattacharya, and Ajoy Dutta.
It may be noted that both the reports submitted to the Assam government contained provisions of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation 1886, Land Ceiling Act, Land law, Protection of Tribal belt and Block, distribution of land pattas, land survey, protection of Wakf and Sattra land and several other recommendations.
Chief Minister Sonowal directed Revenue Department for immediate implementation of the recommendations like formulation of New Land Policy based on the Old Land Policy, resettlement of lands, distribution of land pattas and survey of land.
Chief Minister Sonowal said ever since the new government has come to power it has been one of the priorities of the government to ensure land rights of the indigenous people and enable them enjoy the dignity of life in their own land. He also said the indigenous people living in the state for several decades but do not have land in their name should get rights over the land and he asked the Revenue Department to do the needful to provide land pattas to them.
It is to be noted that for the rehabilitation of thousands of people rendered homeless due to flood and erosion in the state, Chief Minister Sonowal asked authorities concerned to file petition before the Supreme Court to exempt Assam from the purview of the ban imposed on the use of VGR and PGR land in Assam.