TURA: A memorandum demanding the abolition of Mauza X (Khas Mahal) from the Sixth Schedule has been submitted to GHADC CEM Denang T. Sangma.
Several hundreds of Tura residents, mostly women who fall under Danakgre A’king, marched to the office of the GHADC CEM on Wednesday to submit the memorandum, which also sought the scrapping of the patta against lepers’ colony that was recently issued by the Council to the Medical Department.
“The State Government plans to forcibly evict the residents of Rongka Chiring for the construction of a medical college/facility without proper process of acquisition and compensation. It cannot own a land without following the process of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which governs all process of land owning system till the end of 2013. This Act restricts the State from acquiring land in scheduled areas,” the memorandum read.
The memorandum demanded cancellation of all pattas issued to the state departments so as to ensure that no unwarranted conflict arises.
It said that such pattas are illegal as they were acquired without the consent and written document of the A’king Nokma.
Stating that the residents of Balchakram and Chiringgitim at Dakopgre were recently evicted besides the dismantling of 27 houses at Sillanggre for construction of a road, the representatives claimed that the Government is now targeting residents of Rongka Chiring which, they said, is an atrocity against the Scheduled Tribes in spite of the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 (ST/SC).
“We condemn and oppose the State Government’s move to evict the tribal population on the pretext of constructing a medical college on the A’king land. The entire process that the State is following is a violation of the Constitution and Acts. It is also manipulative as eviction plans are not transparent,” the protesters added.
The memorandum also urged the CEM to immediately dispatch a strong letter to the State Government to ensure that the rights of the residents of Rongkha Chiring are not violated.
“The patta issued to the Tura Civil Hospital by the GHADC was under unconstitutional provision (Mauza X-Khas Mahal), which cannot exist in the A’king land and also does not fall under the Sixth Schedule system.
Pattas were issued to the state departments without the written consent of the A’king Nokma, which makes the role of the GHADC debatable.
The State cannot occupy or own land in the Scheduled areas and the GHADC cannot issue patta as the franchise of land in Garo Hills is with the A’king Nokma alone, not GHADC. GHADC can only maintain Land Records, not lease out or sell land or levy tax on land belonging to the A’king Nokma,” the memo asserted.
