Ready to relocate evicted families if citizenship proved: Assam government asserts

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• Nov 5, 2021 | moderator

Guwahati: The Assam government said it had earmarked nearly 134 hectares for relocating the evicted families of Gorukhuti in Darrang district provided their legal electorate.

The evicted families of Dhalpur villages in Gorukuti will not be compensated as they're "encroachers," the federal government stated in a statement to Gauhati Top Court docket based on a PIL filed through the Chief of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia.

"An area of about 1,000 bighas(approximately 134 hectares) of land in the southern part of No 1 & No 3 Dhalpur village has been allocated for relocating the evicted persons subjected to confirmation of the status of erosion affected and landless status in their particular original sites and districts, citizenship and existing rehabilitation policy of the state," the affidavit by means of the federal government stated.

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Sipajhar Earnings Circle Officer Kamaljeet Sarma, representing the Assam government, stated within the testimony that the inhabitants of the areas had been encroachers. So they had been "likely to be removed at any time" as in conformity with regulations outlined under Assam Land and Earnings Legislation, 1886.

"The matter is related to encroachment and eviction only and is not at all related to the acquisition of land. Hence, the question of resettlement, rehabilitation, and return, etc., as per the Land Acquisition Act is irrelevant," Sarma added.

The Gauhati High Court had earlier registered a suo moto PIL following the destructive eviction drive at Sipajhar apart from Saikia's case. As a result, both the matters were clubbed collectively.

The court further took cognizance of the state government's pledge that no coercive measure is being utilized for current encroachers.

"All the very, as and when such measures are chosen, the petitioner would be at right to submit an appeal before this Court," the court added.