Assam to create blocks, belts to protect satra land from encroachment

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government will create belts and blocks to protect satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) and other cultural and spiritual institutions from the menace of encroachment.

"The Assam government will create belts and blocks to lend protection to satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) and other cultural and spiritual institutions from the menace of encroachment. The state government was committed to protecting the land rights of all sections of the people across the state," an official release quoted the Assam CM as saying on Friday.

Sarma added that land pattas (deeds) would be provided to religious institutions, educational institutions and Anganwadi centres under the state's Mission Basundhara 3.0.

Speaking at a function held at Dhola under the Sadiya Assembly constituency of Tinsukia district to distribute land deeds to beneficiaries of Mission Basundhara 2.0, the Assam CM said his government shall provide such deeds to all deserving beneficiaries by 2026 to ensure no genuine citizen is deprived of legal rights over his or her landholdings.

A day after attending ceremonial distribution of land pattas to beneficiaries of Mission Basundhara 2.0 in Dhemaji district, Sarma on Friday visited Sadiya and Doom Dooma in Tinsukia district and took part in similar exercises for beneficiaries.

There are about 12,000 and 7,000 beneficiaries of Mission Basundhara 2.0 within Sadiya and Doom Dooma LACs respectively.

CM Sarma also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth an aggregate of Rs 116 crore for Sadiya LAC and Rs 80 crore for Doom Dooma LAC.

The projects for which foundation stones were laid include the Rs 35.84 crore improvement and up gradation of Dhola to Bhupen Hazarika Setu via Kesakhati Than Road under Asom Mala 2.0 for the year 2023-24, the improvement of the road from Sarudhadum Borpothar to Maithong Road under the Mukhya Mantri Unnoto Pakipath Nirman Achani to be completed at a cost of Rs 9.35 crore, to name a few.

In Doom Dooma, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stones of the Rs 21 crore Jagannath Community Hall and Skill Centre, and the Rs 17.58 crore Doom Dooma Town Water Supply Project, to name a few.

He said that all the difficulties the people had to endure during Mission Basundhara 2.0 shall be addressed and resolved in Mission Basundhara 3.0 and the government shall start work in this direction after the Lok Sabha elections. Mission Basundhara 3.0 will be made simpler to allow indigenous landless people to gain land rights," the CM said.

He also said along with individual land rights, the government is taking adequate steps to allot land pattas to socio-cultural institutions.

Speaking on the advantages of digital land deeds, the chief minister stated that the deeds in digital format shall help the patta owners gain access to their pattas through the dig locker medium in the event of misplacing them.

"Ever since the present government took over the State administration, it has been working relentlessly to bring about a socio-economic-academic empowerment narrative. Schemes such as Orunodoi, waiver of microfinance loans, ration cards, health insurance, and transparency in government jobs, to name a few, are a testament to the government's commitment to transforming Assam into a State developed on all parameters. The government has been taking steps to see that all the Orunodoi beneficiaries are entitled to Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat and Mukhya Mantri Ayushman Asom, to name a few," the Assam CM said.

At a function held at the playground of Rupai High School in Doom Dooma, Chief Minister Sarma said despite 70 years since Independence, a significant number of the state's indigenous population still don't have deeds for the land they hold.

The state government launched Mission Basundhara to mitigate the land documentation woes of such indigenous families, the CM added.

He also spoke about the various initiatives the current regime has been taking for the socio-economic upliftment of the members of the tea-growing tribal communities in the state.

"Steps such as an increase in wages of tea garden labourers, reservations for youths from tea tribe communities in recruitment to government services, among others, are manifestations of the current government's commitments towards the welfare of the members of the tea tribe communities," the CM said.