Over 3,500 Encroacher Families Evicted in 6 Months in Assam

Assam government on Monday said that over the last six months over 3,500 families have been evicted from various places they had encroached upon across the state.

Replying to a question by Congress MLA Nandia Das during question hour, Assam Minister of State for Revenue and Disaster Management Pallab Lochan Das said the eviction drive will continue to free government land from encroachers. “As per reports received from deputy commissioners and principal secretary of Bodoland Territorial Council, over 3,550 families have been evicted from government land during the last six months,” Das said in the assembly.

On whether those evicted are Indian nationals or illegal foreigners, the minister said all the families were treated as encroachers and the revenue and disaster management department is not the competent authority to determine nationality of the persons.

“The evicted families have been driven out from their occupancy as they were illegally occupying government land. Government has no policy or scheme for rehabilitation of persons evicted from such land,” he said. Das said however, the government has initiated steps to provide rehabilitation or land to landless Indian nationals and is also mulling to create a land bank for such purpose.

When the opposition Congress and AIUDF briefly created noisy scenes alleging that most of the encroachers are erosion-affected people, the minister hit back saying eviction across the state is being carried out as per an order of the Supreme Court in 2011. “Why did your (Congress) government not do anything in these period? Congress did not regularise them. Because of Congress’ faults, people are suffering now,” he alleged.

In a separate question by BJP MLA Ashok Singhal, Das said at present a total of 49,72,539 bighas of land are under encroachment across the state. Asked when the land will be freed, the minister said, “Eviction of unauthorised occupants from government land as well as removing unauthorised occupants from tribal belts and blocks is a continuous process as mandated by the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886.”