Four-member panels to help tea garden workers in process of transferring land rights: Himanta

Guwahati, Dec 3 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that four-member committees will be constituted in each tea estate by the respective district commissioner to help workers fill out application forms regarding the transfer of land rights to them.

Sarma, on the sidelines of a programme here, said he held a meeting with the district commissioners to discuss the procedure of giving land rights to the tea garden workers within a specified time frame.

After the governor gives his nod to the amendment Bill passed in the assembly, the process of transferring the lands from the tea garden owners to the government will be initiated, following which land rights will be given to the workers, he said.

The district commissioners have been directed to complete this work at the earliest and they are confident of doing it within the timeframe, Sarma said.

The work will be done in a phased manner as there are 800 tea gardens and it is not possible to conduct a survey of all of them in a day, he added.

Regarding state Congress President Gaurav Gogoi's allegation that giving land rights to tea garden workers was an election gimmick, Sarma said that the Opposition can keep claiming that this is a "drama" but the tea garden workers will get the land rights documents.

"They may say that it is a drama, but we will soon invite all to a public meeting where the land rights certificates will be handed over to the workers," he said.

The chief minister said that the government was proceeding with a target in mind and, "we will invite him (Gogoi) also to Jorhat when the distribution takes place".

He can then say that this is "drama" before the tea garden workers, who will have their land documents in hand, he added.

"It is just a matter of time when the land rights will be handed over to the workers and one just needs to be patient," he added.

The Assam Assembly passed an amendment Bill in the recently concluded Winter Session which will enable the government to distribute land in tea estates' labour lines among the workers for house ownership.

Gogoi had expressed doubt over the state government's decision and had questioned why this law was brought just four months before the elections. PTI DG DG ACD