Assam Government Introduced Bill To Free Xattra Land From Encroachers

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The government on Monday introduced in the Assam Assembly a Bill to evict encroachers from land owned by the xattras and other religious organizations. Minister of State Revenue and Disaster Management Bhabesh Kalita introduced ‘The Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2019’.

In Assam, various religious institutions are more than a hundred years old in their existence. It is reported that lands belonging to such institutions have been encroached by various groups of person and such institutions are not in a position to make free the encroached land on their own. Hence the government felt the strong need to preserve and protect such historical institutions from unauthorized encroachment.

After the Bill is passed, the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) or the Sub Divisional Officers (Civil) will have the full authority to carry out such anti-encroachment drives.

The Bill has become important as “there is no express provision for removal of unauthorized encroachments from the land belonging to the Religious Institutions” like xattras etc.

The existing provisions in the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, empower the Deputy Commissioners to remove unauthorized encroachments only from the Government land and from land falling within the protected Belts and Blocks.

Also Read: Total Xattras In Assam: Dispur In A Fix Over Database