GUWAHATI, May 22 — The State Government has directed all the district and sub divisional authorities to stop all kinds of transfer of land in the Tribal Belts/Blocks to ‘non-eligible’ persons forthwith as per the provisions of the amended Chapter-X of the Assam Land Revenue Regulation (ALRR), 1886. The latest move of the State Government is only but a repetition of the earlier instruction issued by it way back in 1993.
The latest action of the Government is a fall out of the representation made by the organisations of the tribal peoples of the State on May 10 to the Chief Minister. The organisations in their memorandum expressed resentment over the issue of improper implementation of the ALRR provisions and demanded of the State Government immediate steps to undo the wrong done to the tribal people in matters of settlement rights.
The issue of improper implementation of the ALRR provisions in relation to the Tribal Belts/Blocks have been agitating the tribals of the State for quite a long time now and at times these peoples are to resort to agitations demanding proper implementation of the ALRR provisions in the areas meant for them.
The latest developments concerning the Sonapur area in Kamrup district have again made the tribal organisations restive and they have been taking up the issue with the authorities demanding urgent steps. Sonapur is a protected tribal area and in this area of late many non-tribals have been purchasing land from the gullible tribal people. This has made the enlightened section of the tribals and the tribal organisations of the State apprehend that if the process is allowed to continue further the forces of development will soon displace the tribals of the area.
Commissioner and Secretary, Revenue Department of the State Harish Sonowal conveyed the State Government’s directive to the Deputy Commissioners and the Sub-Divisional Officers on May 18 (Memo No –RSS 196/2004/Pt/18) on the issue. In the memo the Commissioner and Secretary said that it had been pointed out to the State Government that alienation of land by way of sale, exchange, lease, gift etc registration of deeds and mutations/registration of names in land records in Belts/ Blocks had been done/going on in favour of non-eligible persons. These are carried out in violation of the legal provisions contained in Chapter-X of the Regulation (ALRR), said the Commissioner and Secretary in his memo.
The State Government had on March 10, 1993 issued detailed instruction (Memo No RSD 7/84/288) to the district and sub divisional authorities to ensure proper implementation of the provisions of the ALRR Chapter-X in the areas reserved for the tribals. For the purpose of expediting the process of implementation of the ALRR provisions, the Government also initiated steps to appoint nine ADCs (Revenue) in the district headquarters then.