Government must work by taking people into confidence: CM Himanta

 Mission Bhumiputra launched to ease process of getting caste certificates

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while expressing concern over the harassment that people have been facing for long due to red-tapism and 'unnecessary' rules and regulations, said, "Government must not harass people."

He said that the government must work by taking people into confidence. "Today I am a part of the government and so are the officers. But tomorrow we may not be a part of it. During their tenure, officers work with an ego. They think that they control the whole system. But when they retire, they have to face the ego of the officers occupying seats of authority. We have to let go of this collective ego, only then will the government be able to take strides in new directions," said the Chief Minister during the launch of Mission Bhumiputra today at a programme held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra.

"Due to red-tapism and administrative hurdles, people face a harrowing time in getting caste certificates, land mutation papers etc. But now we are trying to simplify these processes by making everything online. We should keep in mind that those in the government get their salary from the taxes paid by the people. Hence, people should not be harassed in any way. The government should be people-friendly," he further said.

Chief Minister Sarma said, "We have launched Mission Bhumiputra, a landmark step to resolve issues faced by students in getting their caste certificates. If it is evident from the surname of a student that he belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, why is there a need for verification?"

Implemented by the Departments of Tribal Affairs (Plain) and Social Justice Empowerment, Mission Bhumiputra will create two pillars. Henceforth, manual system of issuing caste certificate will be ceased. From August 8 onwards, the Deputy Commissioners will give the format of applications for caste certificates to the headmasters of educational institutions. The headmasters will fill up the application formats for their onward submission to the Deputy Commissioners who will then forward the applications to the Boards of respective caste or tribe. The DC then will convene a meeting with the Boards to decide on the protocol for issuing caste certificate to the students. If any doubt in the process crops up, the application may be sent for further verification. The certificates will be available in the digi locker under the IT Act with digitally signed by the respective Deputy Commissioners.

From next year, students from Class VIII can apply for caste certificates through the Bhumiputra portal which will also be lined with the CM's dashboard to enable the Chief Minister's Office to monitor the entire process. The Chief Minister also asked the Departments of Tribal Affairs (Plain) and Social Justice Empowerment to generate awareness on this new initiative.

The Chief Minister also said that government has laid emphasis on issuing EWS certificates to the people as steps would be taken to issue such certificate to the students from class VIII onwards. An awareness rally will be organized from September 1 to September 15. With regards to OBC certificates, the State Government will take necessary steps.

The Chief Minister further said that the government would now do away with police verification for appointment in government jobs and for applying for passports. "Why should we suspect our citizens? If there is any complaint against anyone, we will look into the matter and take necessary action. But there is no need for manual police verification. Instead of being occupied in verification work, personnel of the Special Branch, Assam Police are now getting more engaged in crime investigation," he said.

The Chief Minister said that the next target of the government was to grant land rights to the ST people. Under the existing Ceiling Act, a tribal person gets land rights for 8 bighas of land. "We will increase this to 50 bighas of land. In case any tribal person has settled on government land and has to be evicted, the government will also provide compensation," said Sarma.

Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary also spoke on the occasion. Deputy Speaker Assam Legislative Assembly Dr Nomal Momin, Minister of Tribal Welfare Department, Dr Ranoj Pegu, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ashok Singhal, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Pijush Hazarika, and other dignitaries were also present.

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