Evict people encroaching upon tribal land: Assam’s CCTOA

TMPK
Image Courtesy: TMPK- Facebook

Activists of the Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organizations of Assam (CCTOA) gheraoed (surrounded in protest) the Sonapur Circle Office in Guwahati on June 21, 2022 to demand eviction of encroachers and illegal industries from tribal belts and blocks, reported Sentinel Assam.

With support from local progressive groups, the CCTOA organised a massive demonstration and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. In it, members further demanded a halt on eviction of tribal people. Instead, it called upon the government to issue land patta to the tribals and to include Mising, Rabha Hasong and Tiwa people under Schedule 6 of the constitution.

Further, they demanded a survey of tribal belts/blocks and tribal-inhabited areas, implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. As per the memorandum, the Committee said the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is a key piece of forest legislation passed in India on December 18, 2006. Yet the law is not implemented properly.

“We demand that the state government must adopt a bold decision in the State Cabinet for the settlement of land/ issuing land title to all tribal inhabitants in various forest and reserved forest areas of Assam as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 to redress historical injustice committed against tribal forest dwellers,” said the CCTOA.

They also called for the exclusion of such land, Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) and Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDPs) area from the purview of the Assam State Capital Region Development Authority (ASCRDA). Regarding the latter, the CCTOA said doing so will jeopardize Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue (Regulation) Act, 1886.

Earlier, the Gauhati High Court directed Deputy Commissioners of districts having such land to take action against encroachers. The court further warned that imposing costs will be recovered from the salary of those officers, who delayed the process. Yet, the CCTOA stated that there has been no action by the concerned authority to remove such encroachment.

Members expressed concern regarding shrinking tribal areas and the resultant outcome of the de-scheduling of different areas particularly in Bijni tribal block and Dispur. Such moves can leave lakhs of aboriginal scheduled tribe people homeless and landless. CCTOA therefore, urged the government to take proactive steps to restore all the de-scheduled tribal belts and block across Assam with immediate effect. The protest was also attended by Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) General Secretary Tilak Doley, along with the TMPK Guwahati City Committee team.