News Analysis India

Tag: Patta

  • Ahead of polls, PM to ‘patta’ allotment scheme to over 1 lakh indigenous people in Assam

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will launch a special programme of the Assam government to distribute land ‘patta’ or land allotment certificates to over one lakh landless indigenous people.

    This is for the first time since independence that such a large number of people will be given ‘patta’ in Assam in one go.

    “The prime minister will formally launch the distribution of land ‘patta’ to more than one lakh indigenous people who have been living uncertain lives for decades. No government in Assam has ever took such a people-friendly initiative in the past,” Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told PTI.

    The event will be held at Jerenga Pothar in Sivasagar district, a historical place connected with Assam’s erstwhile Ahom kingdom.

    Sonowal said many government land, tribal blocks were encroached by suspected illegal immigrants and his government took the initiative to evict them and provide the land to the indigenous people — most of them are tribals, OBCs and ex-tea garden labourers.

    “The successive Congress governments ignored the pleas of the local people to give the land rights as a result the people have been living a life of constant fear.

    We will end this uncertainty and the prime minister will begin this noble process,” he said.

    Sonowal said to fulfil people’s aspirations, the BJP-led government took this initiative to safeguard ‘jati, mati and bheti (community, land and roots).

    “It is an irony that due to the previous government’s lackadaisical approach and indifferent attitude, the landless indigenous people were deprived of their rights for long 70 years.

    They even had to go through intense sufferings to safeguard their base,” he said.

    An official said because of the uncontrolled migration from across the border, the demography of the state, especially the lower Assam region had gone through unprecedented changes.

    “The phenomenon snowballed into a grave problem of changing the demographic profile in some districts of the state.

    Some of the lower Assam districts have borne the brunt of implosion of doubtful citizens which were once dominated by indigenous communities,” the official said.

    To reverse this trend, it became imperative for the present state government to ensure granting of land to the indigenous land less families, the official said.

    The Sonowal government has already allotted land ‘patta’ to more than one lakh landless indigenous families.

    The state government will allot a total of 2,28,160 land ‘pattas’ in just 4.5 years and the prime minister will initiate the beginning of allotting pattas to 1.06 lakh people on January 23 at the historic Jerenga Pothar in Sivasagar, another official said.

       The  state government even took steps in freeing the encroachments from Kaziranga National Park and ‘Xatras’ (Vaishnavite monasteries).

    As a result, rhino poaching has come down to almost zero.

    The Jerenga Pothar is where the great Sati Jaimati showed her grit and patriotism and the government’s decision of handing over of land pattas to the local indigenous families assume great importance, the official said.

    Assam had 5.75 lakh landless families in 2016.

  • The government gave pattas of forest land and also gave facility to sell paddy

    Devsay, a farmer from village Kandadi, selling paddy for the first time on support price, is very happy. He said that the government of Mr. Bhupesh Baghel has given me a lease of forest land, took the paddy crop and registered it with the Koylibeda Cooperative Society to sell it. Before I got the lease of the forest land, I used to sell my paddy to the coaches for a quarter of a price, which I had to bear loss. Due to the lease of forest land by the government, I was registered in the committee to sell paddy and on the very next day after the paddy purchase started, I sold my 145 sacks of paddy at the rate of Rs 25 hundred per quintal for Rs 01 lakh 45 thousand. I thank the Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel’s government for this arrangement. His government has benefited me by purchasing my paddy at a support price. It is noteworthy that Devasay father Baisakhu, a farmer of village ‘Kandadi’ in the heavily Naxalite affected Koylibeda development block, has been given a forest lease of 10 acres in Orange-19 on the banks of river Meerki (Forest Authority recognition letter), in which they are farming with their families. Farmer Devasay told that out of the 10 acres of land obtained from the Forest Rights Recognition Card, he had harvested paddy crop on 04 acres, maize on 03 acres and urad, kulthi etc. in 03 acres, presently in about 02 acres of land. Maize crop has been taken.

    It is worth mentioning that 174 forest patta farmers have been registered in the Koylibeda Cooperative Society, who will get a chance to sell paddy at the support price. These farmers, who had been in the forest land for years, were deprived of selling paddy at the support price and they had to sell their hard-earned paddy to the Kochis at a flat price, but now it will not happen. This year 1274 farmers of 41 villages of 14 gram panchayats have been registered in the Koylibeda Cooperative Society and they have also been provided with fertilizer, seeds and cash for farming. The registration farmers also include 174 forest lease holders. Of these patta farmers, 134 farmers have been provided fertilizer, seeds and cash by the cooperative society at zero percent interest rate.