Guwahati: A broad coalition of political parties, student organisations and social bodies representing indigenous tribal communities of Karbi Anglong has submitted a memorandum to Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, urging the immediate exercise of constitutional powers under the Sixth Schedule to halt what they describe as large-scale and illegal alienation of tribal land to corporate entities across Sixth Schedule areas.
The memorandum, submitted through the District Commissioner 9DC) and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), calls upon Governor Acharya to act as the constitutional guardian of tribal autonomy and land rights, asserting that institutions mandated to protect indigenous land are themselves facilitating its transfer to non-tribal corporate interests.
Constitutional Position of Governor Under Sixth Schedule
The memorandum underscores that the Governor occupies a unique constitutional position under Article 244(2) of the Constitution and Paragraphs 3 and 12 of the Sixth Schedule, with powers of a special protective and fiduciary character distinct from ordinary executive authority. It recalls that the Sixth Schedule was the outcome of prolonged deliberations by the Advisory Committee on Tribal and Excluded Areas, particularly the Bordoloi Sub-Committee chaired by Gopinath Bordoloi, which had warned that unrestricted entry of commercial interests into tribal areas would lead to dispossession and pauperisation of indigenous communities.
Referring to Constituent Assembly debates of September 1949, the memorandum notes Bordoloi’s assurance that Autonomous District Councils would regulate land use and transfer to prevent alienation, while the Governor would act as the ultimate constitutional sentinel to ensure that these powers were not abused. The Sixth Schedule, it states, was never intended as an administrative convenience but as a solemn constitutional promise to protect tribal land, culture and self-governance.
The signatories argue that when Autonomous Councils or the State Government act in a manner that defeats the protective purpose of the Sixth Schedule, it becomes the constitutional duty of the Governor to intervene.
Pattern of Illegal Land Alienation
According to the memorandum, over the past two years the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, acting in concert with State agencies and private corporations, has allotted or agreed to allot tens of thousands of bighas of tribal land for industrial and extractive projects. The scale and speed of these allotments, it claims, indicate a deliberate design rather than isolated administrative lapses.
One of the largest cases cited involves the allotment of around 18,000 bighas across Lahorijan, Khatkhati and Longkathar blocks to the Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited for a proposed 1,000 MW solar power project. The memorandum notes that the project was earlier linked to an Asian Development Bank loan that was withdrawn in May 2025 following international concern over displacement of indigenous peoples.
It alleges that the project threatens to displace 24 villages and between 20,000 and 25,000 Karbi, Naga, Kachari and Adivasi families, and that private solar power companies are the actual proponents, though their identities and contractual terms have not been disclosed. The land allotment, it states, was made without any Social Impact Assessment, without prior informed consent of Gram Sabhas, and without compliance with the RFCTLARR Act, 2013.
The memorandum also refers to a July 2025 MoU signed by the KAAC with Reliance Industries Limited for an Integrated Compressed Bio-Gas project requiring about 4,000 acres of land in and around Matipung and Diphu. The project envisages large-scale cultivation of Napier grass on land currently used for food crops, converting food-secure agricultural land into industrial biomass zones. The signatories state that the agreement was signed without consultation with affected villages and without assessing the impact on the livelihoods of more than 50,000 people dependent on agriculture and forest produce.
It further cites public statements indicating negotiations or agreements for additional land allotments to the Adani Group for solar projects covering about 6,000 acres, to Patanjali Ayurved Limited for bio-gas and agro-industrial ventures, and to Godrej Industries for manufacturing facilities. The memorandum alleges that details of these deals have not been disclosed despite repeated demands under the Right to Information Act.
In the adjoining Dima Hasao Autonomous District, the memorandum alleges that over 430 hectares have been allotted by the North Chachal Hills Autonomous Council for limestone mining and cement manufacturing to Ambuja Cements, Dalmia Bharat, Star Cement and JK Lakshmi Cement. These allotments are said to overlap with the Krungming Reserve Forest and a recognised Key Biodiversity Area. A proposed 1,250 MW pumped storage hydroelectric project by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, with Adani Power as project proponent, is also cited as threatening nearly 9,000 bighas of jhum land and displacing villages in Moti Lampu, Moti Hojai and Riam Bathari.
Criminality of Dispossession
The memorandum asserts that the alienation of tribal land involves not only statutory violations but elements of criminal fraud, breach of trust and corruption. It alleges systematic exclusion of genuine landholders from compensation lists, inclusion of fictitious beneficiaries, undervaluation of compensation and fabrication of consent documents.
A recurring allegation is the misclassification of occupied and cultivated tribal land as “Council Khas Land” to evade the application of the RFCTLARR Act. The memorandum explains that customary land tenure in Sixth Schedule areas is often unrecorded in formal surveys but recognised through house-tax collection, electoral rolls and village boundary maps. The absence of formal pattas, it claims, is being exploited to declare inhabited land as vacant and lease it to corporations without any acquisition process.
The signatories also express concern that these land deals may be linked to undisclosed political financing ahead of the 2026 Assam Assembly elections, potentially constituting criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code as well as violations of election and anti-corruption laws.
Environmental and Social Catastrophe
Beyond legality, the memorandum warns of a looming environmental and social catastrophe. Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts, it notes, lie within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and support endangered wildlife, forest ecosystems and sacred cultural sites. The representation alleges that environmental clearance processes have been perfunctory, cumulative impacts ignored, public hearings inaccessible or conducted in unfamiliar languages, and mandatory Gram Sabha consent under the Forest Rights Act entirely bypassed.
It cautions that the displacement of tens of thousands of tribal families, many dependent on jhum cultivation and common property resources, cannot be mitigated through monetary compensation. The likely outcome, it warns, would be the creation of a dispossessed tribal population severed from land, livelihoods and cultural identity.
Failure of Institutions and Call for Governor’s Intervention
The memorandum states that Autonomous Councils, the State Government, regulatory authorities and oversight institutions have failed to protect tribal rights. With court proceedings likely to take years, the signatories argue that the Governor remains the last constitutional safeguard.
Invoking Paragraph 12 of the Sixth Schedule, they urge the Governor to institute an immediate and independent inquiry into all land allotments made by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and the North Chachal Hills Autonomous Council over the past three years, impose a moratorium on further allotments and project activities, promulgate regulations prohibiting transfer of tribal land to non-tribal entities without Gram Sabha consent, cancel illegal allotments and restore land to tribal communities, and refer matters to independent investigative agencies if evidence of corruption emerges.
A Constitutional Crossroads for Assam’s Sixth Schedule Areas
The memorandum further mentioned that Assam stands at a critical crossroads between continued alienation of tribal land and the vindication of constitutional guarantees under the Sixth Schedule. It asserts that intervention by the Governor would not constitute executive overreach but would fulfil the constitutional responsibility entrusted by the framers of the Constitution.
The representation has been jointly submitted by political parties including the All Party Hill Leaders Conference, Indian National Congress units of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, CPI(ML)-Liberation, National People’s Party, Indigenous People’s Party and ASDC(S).
It is endorsed by student organisations such as the Karbi Students Association, All India Students’ Association and Karbi Student and Youth Council, and by social bodies including the Joint Coordination Committee for Protection of Autonomy, Hills Tribal League, Karbi Nimso Chingthur Asong, Karbi Anglong Territorial Social Security Association, Karbi Farmers Association, Karbi Anglong Women Justice Forum, Karbi Anglong Democratic Women Association and Karbi Youth Association.