Encroachers on Tribal Land

The present government had, in the very beginning of its term, unequivocally vowed to clear all encroachers from land in Tribal Belts and Blocks, as well as land belonging to Vaishnavite Xatra and other religious institutions, and land belonging to the government. As reported in the Sunday edition of this newspaper, the Coordination Committee for Tribal Organisations of Assam has alleged that while there are 30 tribal blocks and 17 tribal belts in Assam with a total area of 85.80 lakh bighas, around five lakh bighas are still under encroachment despite eviction drives conducted from time to time. As reported, the Gauhati High Court had in May 2023 directed the state government to free such lands “as soon as possible.” Additionally, the High Court had also directed all District Commissioners to evict all non-tribal and other people illegally occupying tribal lands under provisions of the law. Tribal belts and blocks are spread in 13 districts: Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, and Tinsukia. In this context it is worth noting that the State Revenue and Disaster Management Department website has specifically mentioned that preservation and protection of government land and land reserved for specific purposes like VGRs and PGRs, wetlands, and land under Tribal Belts and Blocks is a major responsibility of officials of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. The website also has it on record that it has come to the notice of the government that large areas of government khas land, VGRs, PGRs, tribal belts, blocks, etc., are under encroachment. “The unchecked encroachment of government land by encroachers has reduced the area that was reserved in the interest of public and ecological balance,” the website has mentioned. It also mentions that Rule 18(2) of the Settlement Rules under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, empowers District Commissioners to remove forthwith all encroachers on government land, waste land, khas land, etc. Circle Officers too are delegated the power to remove encroachments vide a government notification No. RLR.162/2008/25, dated 06.02.2010. Coming to tribal land, Section 165 (1) under Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 empowers District Commissioners to eject forthwith any person who, without authority, has encroached upon or occupied land under Tribal Belts and Blocks. Going back, one finds that the state government had informed the State Assembly on March 17, 2023, that over 8.57 lakh encroachers were occupying more than 5,404 sq km of land across Assam. According to the state government, of them, about 2.12 lakh are landless people, 1.24 lakh are from the minority community, and 31,839 are erosion-hit people. While there is a general perception that most of the encroachers belong to the minority community (read illegal migrants of East Pakistan/Bangladesh origin), the reality, according to the state government’s statement in the Assembly, is that encroachers belong to various categories of indigenous people too. As stated in 2023, the 8.57 lakh encroachers also include 103,422 persons from the economically weaker section, 68,981 persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, 77,616 persons to the Scheduled Tribes, and 121,089 to the general category.