Sharecropping On Government Land!

GUWAHATI: The problem of land encroachment in Assam has found an ingenious method in the form of ‘sharecropping’ at the cost of government land. A section of indigenous people has started giving ‘settlement’ to people of suspected nationalities on government land on the condition that the settlers will have to give one-third of their harvested crops to the section.

In a prompt action by the government to a news item headlined ‘Encroachers have a field day’ that was published on page 1 in The Sentinel in its June 19, 2019 issue, the State government swooped down on the encroachers in Chandrapur on Wednesday and dismantled around 150 thatched dwelling structures.

A joint team of the police and the district administration went to the Panikhaiti area in Chandrapur and found settlers there with newly-erected thatched houses. The settlers have encroached upon the area comprising mostly sars for about two months back. However, most of the encroachers revealed before the police and officials of the district administration that they had been brought and given ‘settlement’ there by a group of around 16 local people with surnames Kalita, Sarma etc. They also named the gaonburha of Tatimora Gaon among the 16 local people who have given them ‘settlement’ there.

One of the encroachers said: “We’ve been given settlement here by the local people on the condition that we’ll have to part one-third of our crops to them after harvest.”

Most of the encroachers claimed to have come from Boko, Chhaygaon, Darrang etc.

Meanwhile, the officer leading the team said: “We’re going to ascertain the authenticity of the claims made by the encroachers, including their addresses.”

The moot point is: Why doesn’t the government take stringent action against such people who encourage encroachment of government land by people of doubtful nationalities? Why doesn’t the State government put in place a mechanism to stop the practice of settlers evicted from one place encroaching upon land at some other places? In the absence of such a mechanism, evictions and fresh encroachments remain a never-ending process.

Also Read: State Revenue Department Move for settlement of Government Land only among ‘Sons of Soil’