Assam CM Himanta launches 3rd edition of land rights scheme for indigenous people in state

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday rolled out the third and last phase of Mission Basundhara scheme, a flagship programme to give land rights to indigenous people of the state.

At an official function here, Sarma said that through conferring land pattas to the indigenous communities, the BJP-led government is strengthening its resolve to protect 'Jati-Mati-Bheti' (community, land, homeland).

"Immediately after we assumed office, we set out on a mission to provide land rights to indigenous communities in Assam -- an exercise undertaken after 75 years of Independence. Mission Basundhara was born with this vision on October 2, 2021," he said.

Sarma said that when the government set out to implement the project, it was astounded by the unprecedented number of applications received, validating the effort as one of the biggest land-related initiatives in Assam.

"We disposed 8 lakh applications in 9 months under Mission Basundhara 1.0," he said, adding that the second edition of the flagship programme was launched in November 2022 and gave land rights to over 2 lakh indigenous people within a year.

"Taking forward the lessons learnt from the two editions of the scheme, today we officially launched Mission Basundhara 3.0. It will be another firm step taken by our government to safeguard the land and identity of the people of Assam," the CM said.

This latest edition will include digitisation of various land-related services, publication of maps and offering land rights to the people.

He said that realising its immense potential, especially in conferring land rights to the indigenous people of the state, the government has implemented several new rules this year to simplify the process.

"There will not be any Mission Basundhara 4.0. This will be the final Mission Basundhara. So, we should bring all applications from the people properly," Sarma told the officials related to the services under the scheme.

Talking about the third edition of the scheme, he said SC, ST, Adivasi, Tea Tribes and Gorkhas will not be required to prove three-generation ancestry to get land rights as they are the "sons of soil".

"Premium rate has been reduced to three per cent of zonal valuation for city dwellers. Also, authentic pre-1971 refugee certificate holders are eligible to apply in the scheme," Sarma said.

Through this comprehensive Mission, the government aims to give land ownership to priority groups at the earliest and bring transparency in various land-related services, he added.

The chief minister also said that the state government is dedicated to easing administrative processes for citizens.

"We have also introduced a new facility, called Digidoc. The Revenue Department's launch of Digidoc, a digital directory for non-registrable and optional registrable documents, will streamline services, reduce processing time and enhance public convenience," he added.

This initiative underscores the government's commitment to improving accessibility and efficiency, Sarma said.