Village merger: MP Sushmita Dev asks Cachar DC to ‘come clean’

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: Expressing concern on the proposed merger of 19 villages of Lakhipur with Dima Hasao, the Rajya Sabha MP, Sushmita Dev, asked the Cachar District Commissioner to provide her a detailed report about the entire process. Sushmita said that process at the administration level had been initiated for the merger of these 19 villages of Lakhipur co-district with Dima Hasao as a part of the demands placed by two insurgent outfits with which the union and the state governments had inked a tripartite treaty on April 27, 2023, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and the Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. She said that meanwhile, the Cachar district administration had asked the Circle Officer of Lakhipur to prepare a detailed report on the present location, geographical position, population pattern, and community ratio of these 19 villages.

Dev alleged that there had been no transparency for the public about the steps being taken by the district administration and no proper action had been taken by the authority to meet the people of the concerned areas. Maintaining that the entire episode had cast a shadow of uncertainty, Dev said that the proposed merger would have a huge negative impact on the economy and geography of the entire Barak Valley.

Meanwhile, the Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya Sammelon had convened a meeting inviting all the linguistic communities residing in Cachar. Speakers expressed serious concern on the proposed merger of these villages. A steering committee was formed with the representatives from all the communities to chalk out a strategy to resist the move.

Also Read: Aaranyak conducted basic patrol technical training for frontline forest staff