Assam government achieving the target of distribution of one lakh Land Patta (land certificates) to indigenous families is praiseworthy. Huge backlog in updating the land records, however, does not leave any room for complacency. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government is showcasing the achievement as fulfilling its poll promise of protecting the jati (nationality), mati (land), bheti ( foundation) of indigenous people. The slogan jati, mati, bheti struck the chords with the indigenous communities in the state in 2016 Assembly polls. With 2021 Assembly polls round the corner, the achievement of the State government will help the ruling coalition neutralize much of the campaign against it over the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. The Land Policy, 2019 adopted by the State government has helped it expediting the distribution of land patta, which has been long overdue.
The policy states that the land at the disposal of the government for ordinary cultivation may initially by way of allotment to indigenous landless cultivators. The allotted land may be settled with the allotees after three years of continuous possession, provided the land was used for the purpose it was allotted. The policy, however, clarifies that provision for allotment of land to the indigenous landless persons to the tune of three bighas for agriculture and half a bigha for homestead purpose does not given them the entitlement to get land. It is for the government to decide how much land can be given to a person or whether it can be given at all depending on the local circumstances and other pressing needs for the land. Updating the land records in all the districts, digitizing those, and making records available in the public domain will help make a correct assessment of availability of land. The transparency of records of government land is needed to help the landless families not to be swayed by mere achievement of target set by the State government and get a clearer picture if land is actually available with the government for settling them.
The land policy provides a safety shield for the landless indigenous individuals as it prohibits transferring any part of the settled land except one bigha in emergency within 15 years so that the owner of the land patta does not become landless again. The pressure on land in the state is increasing with rapid growth of population and industrial activities. Erosion of land at an average annual rate of 8000 hectares and siltation of land rendering agricultural land unfit for cultivation has made land scarce in the state. Population explosion among migrant settlers of Char areas of erstwhile East Bengal origin who also suffer displacement due to unabated erosion move out different parts of the state to settle to vacant government land. A large population of Adivasi communities working in tea gardens as workers and as cultivators do not possess land patta. The density of the population in the plain districts in the state is 496 in every square kilometre which is high compared to national density of population of 382. This explains why land issue is much more sensitive and more so for the indigenous communities. The Land Policy, 2019, however, lacks clarity on the definition of indigenous landless people. It mentions preference will be given to the landless indigenous cultivators belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes (OBC), MOBC communities.
The High Level Committee of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord has recommended that land rights in the state be confined to the "Assamese people" putting restrictions on transferring the same by any means to other persons other than Assamese people. The committee in its report cautioned that unless land rights of the "Assamese people" are protected along with political rights, it will be a futile exercise to adopt measures for implementation of the Clause 6 in its true spirit. To prevent alienation of land the committee has made a set of recommendations in addition to the recommendation made by the H.S. Brahma Committee on Land Reforms and Land Policy, 2019. One of the recommendations is that Char areas should be surveyed, and newly created char areas should be treated as government land and erosion affected people should get priority in allotment. The committee also recommended time-bound three-year programme in mission mode to allot land patta to "Assamese people" who are in occupation of land for decades without any documents. Clearly, the State government will have to first accept the definition of the "Assamese people" given in the report to implement other recommendations related to land and land rights. The State government drumming up support on its achievement on distribution of land patta to indigenous people will bring the issue of Clause 6 and definition of "Assamese people" to the centerstage of the electoral politics.