Inter-religious land transfer only after police scrutiny in Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Sarma said the cabinet approved SOPs for inter-religion land transfers because this needed to be handled very carefully in a sensitive state like Assam
Guwahati: The Assam cabinet on Wednesday approved standard operating procedures (SOPs) that mandate police scrutiny of all land transfers between people belonging to different religions, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
“Today the state cabinet has approved a SOPs for inter-religion land transfers. In a sensitive state like Assam the transfer of land between two religious groups needs to be handled very carefully. All such transfer proposals will now come to the state government who will scrutinize each of them through our special branch (of police),” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.
The CM said that the branch will look at the source of the funds meant for the land purchase, whether it has been reflected in tax returns (of the purchaser), if the purchase will affect the social fabric of the locality, whether there’s opposition to the sale from local residents (and such concerns have been addressed or not) and if the sale has an impact on national security in certain cases.
“All such issues will be examined carefully and thereafter we will inform the deputy commissioners (of districts) on whether they should allow the transfer of land or not and accordingly the DCs will take the final decision,” Sarma said.
The CM added that the same procedure would be applied for non-government organisations from outside Assam who seek to get land in the state for establishing educational, health institutes etc.
“All such proposals will be examined from the national security angle and only thereafter land sale permission will be given. However, for local NGOs who are known for their contributions, no such procedure will be needed to be followed,” Sarma informed.
He stated that several NGOs from Kerala have purchased land in districts such as Sreebhumi and Barpeta or are trying to do so in districts of Barak Valley (Cachar, Hailakandi and Sreebhumi). He did not name the NGOs.
“Several NGOs from Kerala with ties to a particular religion have already purchased large plots of land or are trying to do so. We have been trying to prevent such purchases,” the CM said.
Sarma also informed that there have been changes in the proposed dates of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Assam to take part in the birth centenary celebrations of Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika.
“The PM was earlier scheduled to visit the state on September 8, but since the date for the election of the new Vice President is September 9, he will now come to Assam for two days on September 13-14 to take part in the birth centenary celebrations,” the CM said.
He said union home minister Amit Shah will also visit the state for two days beginning August 28 to take part in three events, including a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s core committee ahead of next year’s assembly polls.
