Transfer of 38 Jorhat villages to Golaghat
HT Correspondent
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JORHAT, Jan 5: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Jorhat district committee members on Thursday staged a symbolic sit-in protest in front of the deputy commissioner’s office complex here against the two decisions of the state government, that is transferring several villages from one district to another in 14 districts along with merging of four new districts with their respective original ones from which the districts had been carved out.
The protesters led by AAP district coordinator Dibyajyoti Sarmah, said that the party has severely opposed the government Cabinet decision of December 31 last to do away with four districts and exclusion/inclusion of villages from one district to another.
Demanding the retaining of 38 villages of Jorhat with the district instead of allotting the villages to Golaghat, the AAP members said that the decision was against the interest of a large number of people who would face a lot of difficulties in view of transferring of the villages.
The protesters, while stating that the party was not satisfied with the chief minister’s assurance that the decision of inclusion/exclusion of villages among districts and merger of 4 districts was a temporary one and would be taken back after six months following completion of the delimitation of constitution exercise initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI), sent a memorandum to the chief minister, through the Jorhat deputy commissioner’s office, seeking immediate withdrawal of it.
Meanwhile, people of about 11 villages of Borholla under Titabar civil sub-division of Jorhat district on Thursday took to the streets to oppose the merger of their villages with Golaghat and later staged a protest in front of Borholla police station.
Holding banners and placards the protesters, including many women, shouted slogans against the government decision to part with the villages with Golaghat. They sought withdrawal of the decision, which they said would cause a lot of hardships in view of the Titabar SDO (Civil) office only seven kms away from the villages while Golaghat district headquarters was about 70 kms away.
They stated that the government took the said decision without holding any discussion on the matter with the people of the villages that were taken off from Jorhat and given to the adjoining district.
It may be mentioned here that on January 3, the Assam finance minister and guardian minister of Jorhat district Ajanta Neog held a meeting with a group of people of the affected villages at the Jorhat Circuit House after the decision triggered protests in Jorhat district along with other parts of the state.
The minister reiterated the chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s assurance to the people given earlier, that the decision of allotting villages from a district to another was a temporary move in view of the delimitation process undertaken by ECI.
She even connected the delegates with the chief minister over phone and Sarma also reassured the people in this regard and reportedly reassured that the decision would be reversed after about six months.
Most of the 38 villages taken away were from Jorhat West Revenue Circle and rest from Titabar Civil Sub-division of the district.
