GUWAHATI, June 9: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said no tribal people have been evicted during his tenure, maintaining that his government was prepared to resolve the land rights issues of indigenous people in Kamrup and Goalpara districts through dialogue.
Speaking in the assembly, he accused the Congress of instigating the people in the Borduar tea estate and Rakhyasini hills by misleading them that the government was conspiring to take away their land.
Sarma was replying to AGP MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita, who raised the protests in Borduar tea estate by a section of Rabha tribe people over apprehension of losing their land to a satellite township project of the government.
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The CM said that developing a satellite township meant improving infrastructure like roads, bridges, power connections, and water supply, and the government has no intention of taking land from the people there.
Regarding the proposed satellite township in Bordua-Palasbari area, he said that when the government received information that there were tribal people in Bordua tea estate, it had been mulling over buying out the estate.
The land under the possession of the tribals will be handed to them, and the remaining will be kept in the government land bank, which will be used for projects that would benefit the people, he said.
“I had asked our minister to pursue the matter with the locals, and I cannot understand why this agitation happened. No eviction of tribals has been carried out by our government,” he claimed.
Affirming his government’s commitment to clear all tribal belts and blocks from illegal occupation, he said, “If the Congress supports keeping tribal belts and blocks for the indigenous people in one place, it should support the same policy throughout the state.”
Mentioning Rakhyasini hill, which is a proposed reserve forest, the chief minister said, “When I visited, I saw that there is hardly any forest left. People are residing in that place. I had told them that let us save whatever remains of the forest, and the land already under occupation can be settled as per the state’s land policy.”
He claimed that while the people were initially receptive to the government’s proposal, they were later instigated by some Congress leaders and are now seeking to approach the court.
“We were willing to give land rights to the eligible people. But if they go to the court, so be it. We were making it easy for them through existing legal provisions, but we will follow the court’s order now,” he said. (PTI)
