All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam demands eviction of encroachments in tribal belts and blocks

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The Lakhimpur district body of All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam(AAASA) has raised a strong demand to evict the encroachments on Adivasi land under tribal belts and blocks. Regarding the issue, the activists of the organization, led by president Rajesh Kerketa and David Mali, blocked the Kimin Road at Deezoo Christian Basti in Lakhimpur on Tuesday.

The Assam State government declared six communities of Assam, including the tea tribes, as ‘protected class’ through an ordinance on April 20, 1949 under Assam Land and Revenue Regulatory Act, 1886. As per 160 Paragraph, the land owners cannot hand over land under these tribal belts and blocks to unprotected classes, apart from the scheduled protected classes. The organization alleged that such Adivasi lands at present had gone into the hands of unprotected classes through various ways of manipulation. Under such circumstances, though the organization demanded the government and the district administration to redeem the evicted lands from the encroachers, it had not come into any effect.

Staging the agitation programme in association with the Pahumara and Deezoo regional committees, the organization further demanded the district administration to cancel the registration of name (namjari) over such lands by unprotected classes through manipulation, to launch probe against the dishonest employees responsible for such manipulation and to distribute the ceiling land under tea estate areas among the tea garden workers by evicting the encroachments. Regarding these demands, the organization submitted a memorandum to the Circle Officer of Nowboicha revenue circle demanding his immediate initiative.

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