Land distribution in Guwahati: 1,500 applicants ‘doubtful’

GUWAHATI: The process of distributing land pattas to bonafide indigenous beneficiaries has hit a roadblock in Guwahati city with the Kamrup metro administration detecting a huge number of “doubtful applicants”. Hence the move is kept on hold for the present until the reverification process of the applicants is not over.

Sources informed The Sentinel on Friday that “as many as 1,500 applications for land pattas have been found to have alleged discrepancies.” During the ongoing reverification exercise of applicants by the Kamrup metro administration it has been found that nearly 70 per cent out of 1500 applicants for land pattas in the city were not found genuine. The administration has found that the real applicants were missing on the ground and instead others (non-applicants) were found instead. It has also been learned that till date only 233 applications have been found to be genuine.

The official procedure to go for land pattas is to first apply to the Kamrup district administration. The district administration after preliminary verification sends such files to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, where every minute detail is checked. The Department then resends the file to the district administration with its recommendations.

The officials and personnel concerned have to conduct field survey and assess the veracity of the applicant through his/her physical presence at the site mentioned. But in the mentioned cases, the applicants were not found at the sites or locations for which the applications were filed.

Detection of large number of doubtful applicants is a matter of serious concern as it also points to the presence of illegal claimants. The Assam Government recently distributed land pattas to landless indigenous people in other parts of the State.

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