Guwahati (Assam) [India], November 12 (ANI): Joining with the rest of the country in the celebrations of Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh Pakhwada from November 1 to 15, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday handed over land title certificates under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to 4,673 indigenous tribal families at a function held at Chhaygaon in Kamrup district.
According to a release, as part of the initiative, tribal families belonging to the Garo, Rabha, Bodo, and Karbi communities residing in reserved forest areas, such as Lakhra, Bondapara, Kulshi, Loharghat, Bamunigaon, Boko, and Singra, have been included.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sarma said that the nation is celebrating Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh to mark the 150th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Bhagawan Birsa Munda.
He stated that families receiving land pattas under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, have been residing on forest lands for generations. In 2005, the Parliament of India recognised the rights of tribal people over forest land by enacting the Forest Rights Act.
CM Sarma stated that after assuming office as the Chief Minister in 2021, he had directed the concerned departments and officials to take measures to ensure that every tribal family living in forest areas of the state is granted land rights.
“As a result, thousands of tribal families across regions including Sonitpur, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, and BTR have already been able to obtain land pattas. The process of granting land rights to nearly 5,000 tribal families in Sonitpur and Biswanath districts is in its final stages. Our aim is to provide land rights to every tribal person residing in Assam’s forest areas. I am happy that as a result of the government initiatives we have been able to empower the tribal communities, and the land issues of these communities are gradually being resolved,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister, moreover, stated that there was once a time when tribal people had to launch movements for their land rights. Sometimes they even faced eviction in several areas.
Referring to his earlier directive to senior officials to resolve the land issues of tribals, living in forest areas, he said that under the first phase of the Mission Basundhara Scheme, more than 1.5 lakh tribal families were able to receive land pattas.
“However, many tribal families had not applied under the scheme because they already possessed ancestral land, and Mission Basundhara allowed pattas only up to seven bighas of land. In this context, he added, After discussions with the Minister of the Tribal Affairs Department and representatives of Tribal Sangha, we have decided to grant land pattas up to 50 bighas for Tribal families under Basundhara. This decision enabled a large number of tribal people to secure legal ownership of their land,” he said.
CM Sarma also mentioned that a large portion of the land inhabited by Tribal people was non-cadastral land. Over the past four and a half years,
“The state government has taken steps to convert such land into cadastral land. As a result, land of around 600 villages have been converted from non-cadastral to cadastral status, allowing many tribal families to become eligible for land pattas. Through our efforts, the tribal people have now gained rightful ownership of their land. After 78 years of independence, the tribal residents living in forest areas under Kamrup East and Kamrup West forest divisions have become rightful landowners. This is indeed a matter of pride for us,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister further said that the present State government has attached great importance to the protection of forest lands.
He noted that in several forest areas of the state, including those in Goalpara and Kamrup districts, encroachments had led to a severe depletion of forest cover.
“As a result of the government’s strong eviction measures, about 1.45 lakh bighas of forest land have been freed from encroachment so far. Like the eviction drives carried out in Hasila Beel, Paikan Reserved Forest, and Dahikata Forest in Goalpara district against encroachment, government to launch eviction drives against illegal encroachments in other places in the days to come,” he said.
CM Sarma urged the public to remain vigilant to ensure that no new encroachment takes place, pointing out that even a small encroachment by one or two families can later expand into a large-scale encroachment. CM Sarma added that following the delimitation exercise, the Boko, Goalpara West, and Dudhnoi Assembly constituencies have now been reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
He appealed to the tribal people to take a pledge as a part of Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh Pakhwada to preserve their languages, traditions, and customs.
The Chief Minister further said that Bhagwan Birsa Munda not only fought against the British colonial rule for the rights of tribal people but also raised his voice against religious conversion. Birsa Munda worked tirelessly to revive and protect the religious beliefs, and traditions of tribal communities.
“In the 19th century Birsa Munda dreamt of a tribal awakening, understood the perils of cultural aggression, and strove to safeguard the faith of tribal people. He was a unique nationalist leader of India; a courageous voice and a visionary thinker,” the Chief Minister said.
He stated that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to celebrate Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh across the nation to honor Birsa Munda’s ideals, which remain highly relevant even today.
“Our tribal society must go forward following Birsa Munda’s ideals to face new and emerging challenges,” he added.
The Chief Minister on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh Pakhwada paid rich floral tributes to the tribal icons namely Birsa Munda, Jaya Thausen, Rashimoni Hajong, Swahid Kamala Miri, Katiram Rabha, Hemram Pator, Swahid Maghiram Kachari, Bhimbor Deuri, Swahid Bir Sambudhan Phanglochan.
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, Water Resources Minister Piyush Hazarika, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ashok Singhal, MP Bijuli Kalita Medhi, MLAs Suman Haripriya, Hemanga Thakuria, and Nandita Das, Chief Executive Member of Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council Tankeswar Rabha, Additional Chief Secretary Sweety Changsan, and several other dignitaries were present on the occasion. (ANI)
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