Dispur Proposes Drafted Land Policy To 15-Year Bar For Beneficiaries

GUWAHATI: With the twin objective of giving land to landless indigenous people as well protect their land for a longer period, Dispur has proposed to incorporate a clause in the newly drafted land policy to put a 15-year bar on selling of government land which is allotted to its beneficiaries. As per the existing rule, the beneficiaries can sell their lands to others after the expiry of ten years since the date of allotment or settlement.

The move has been made to ensure that the indigenous landless beneficiaries for any reason whatsoever do not become landless (by selling their land) within a decade after owning ownership of the government land.

It has been also learnt that the Government is seriously mulling of incorporating the ownership time-bar clause even in the parent legislation – the ‘Assam Land Revenue Regulation-1886’. Such a step will not only make make it legally binding but also to make it more pertinent for the cause of indigenous people of the State.

The Revenue department has already drafted the ‘Assam Land Policy-2019’ and forwarded it to 11 other departments of the State government for their respective recommendations including ‘inclusion to’ or ‘ommissions from’ the proposed land policy. Among the departments whose views are being sought are Personnel, Agriculture, Forest, Finance, Industry, Guwahati Development, and Urban Development. However, if the departments do not respond within the stipulated deadline with their respective “additions to” or “deletions of” points from the draft then it would be taken for granted that the departments have given their consent to the draft land policy.

The draft ‘Land Policy-2019’ has been prepared by two officials of the Revenue and Disaster Management department in consultation with senior officials of that department and the Chief Minister’s Office. The draft report is based on the recommendations of the ‘Committee for Protection of Land Rights of the Indigenous People of Assam’ headed by former Chief Election Commissioner Hari Shankar Brahma, the ‘Land Policy of 1989’ and the draft ‘Land Policy of 2016’. The Brahma Committee was constituted on February 6, 2017, by an order issued by the Governor of Assam. It submitted the report to the State Government on January 18, 2018.

Considering the lengthy process, it is expected that the new land policy will be approved by the State government in the fag end of 2019.

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