Assam govt to enact new land Law to protect locals’ rights

Guwahati: The BJP-led coalition government in Assam is set to enact a new land revenue law with an objective to protect the rights of indigenous people in the state.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has issued a directive to the state Revenue Department to prepare new land revenue legislation for the purpose. He has asked the department to constitute a high-level committee for the purpose of expediting the process.
Sonowal also directed the Department to search for unused land areas that would be required to allot three bighas of land to each of the 30,000 families affected by river erosion in the State, including 8,000 such families affected in Majuli.
He told the Revenue Department officials that the State Government would take all steps to provide all sorts of facilities to these families for constructing their houses on such plots of land, for securing supply of drinking water and cooking gas, among others.
He suggested formation of a land bank so as to get the proper information on the present status of land use in the State, which is an essential pre-requisite for effective implementation of the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the state.
For the purpose of assessing the present land use status, he also called for steps to undertake surveys. The suggestions provided by the people on land-related matters should also be taken into consideration in this regard, he said.
He asked the department to carry out a survey of unused land lying under the disposal of tea estates located in both the Brahmaputra and the Barak Valleys in the state.