ASSAM

Leaders of six communities in Assam, which are agitating for Scheduled Tribe status in their State, have stressed the need to stay united in their fight. The leaders of Tai-Ahom, Matak, Moran, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, and Adivasi communities have cautioned that they are being pitted against each other, even as they are headed for a fresh round of meetings with the All Assam Tribal Sangha (AATS), an umbrella body of existing STs, over their demands.

Efforts to keep representatives of all six agitating communities together has been renewed, especially since one faction of the Chutia community – the Chutia Yuva Sanmilan – announced recently that they would be breaking away from the group that has so far been meeting with the AATS and the government over demands to be classified as STs.

Put together, the six communities agitating for ST status in Assam comprise at least 30% of the States electorate. Adding them to the ST list would significantly increase the ST Population in the State and reduce the share of entitlements available to the existing ST communities unless the quota is increased from the present 10% for tribes in plains and 5% for tribes in the hills.

Updating records in a mission mode is a major goal of ‘Mission Basundhara’ by offering nine land revenue related Services online, including mutation and reclassification of land, Sarma said. The application period in the portal is from October 2, 2021, to November 30, 2021, and the disposal shall be within May 10, 2022, Sarma said. As part of the second component of the mission, a polygon survey would be conducted of yet-to-be surveyed 672 non-cadastral villages of the state by March 31, 2022.

also said that miscreants from Mizoram set ablaze 27 houses at Jalnacherra village in Hailakandi district of Assam on February 9 this year, affecting 20 indigenous families. He further informed the House that miscreants also torched a few houses on July 25 at Bilaipur-Dhalcherra of Hailakandi. In Hailakandi district, around 1,000 hectares of Inner Line Reserve Forest have been encroached by people from Mizoram for a long time

Sonowal said the second edition of the Assam Youth Olympics will be hosted by Dibrugarh from December 2 to 10 that will witness the participation of over 5,000 athletes from all 31 districts of the state. Sonowal said the event, organised and conducted by the AOA, under the aegis of the department ofsportsand youth welfare, government of Assam, is an attempt to provide a professional platform for the upcoming talent from the grassroots levels to perform and excel for better sporting milestones in the future.

The had requested theMinistry of Home Affairsfor release of the second installment of the central share for undertaking relief measures in the calamity-affected areas.

Assamchief ministerHimanta Biswa Sarmaon Monday tabled the Assam Cattle PreservationBill, 2021, in the state assembly to regulate slaughter, consumption and transportation of cattle, even as the Opposition MLAs staged a walkout over price rise on the first day of the budget session.

After the Bill gets the nod of the assembly, sale, offer or exposure of beef will be prohibited in areas which are predominantly inhabited by Hindu, Jain,Sikhand other non beef-eating communities. The will also come into effect within a radius of 5km of any temple,satra(Vaishnavite monastery), or other Hindu religious institutions. It also may be applicable to any other institution or areas prescribed by the competent authority.

The Bill, however, brought exemptions for slaughter which is certified by a veterinary officer authorised on this behalf by the State Government in the interest of public Health. Slaughter of cattle suffering from incurable, infectious, contagious disease or is a danger to other cattle has been permitted but with due permission from the authorised veterinary officer.

The already existingAssam Cattle Preservation Act1950, regulates cattle slaughter in Assam, provided concerned veterinary officers give a fit-for-slaughter certificate. Slaughter of cattle that are over 14 years of age is conditionally allowed. The new legislation will repeal the 1950 Act where consumption of beef was not an offence. Besides, the legislation may lead to further intensify the BJP-governments move against cow smuggling toBangladeshwhich is on through the porous international border and riverine areas along the international border for long.

TheAssamgovernment has declared Cachar district’s Rukni Part-IV village as a “zero child-marriage village”.

“Rukni Part-IV has been found with nochild marriagecases in the past two years. It’s a good job by the Cachar District Administration, Police department and social welfare department for making it possible by creating awareness among the people of the locality. I also thank the villagers for their sense of consciousness and response to the government initiative,” said Assam minister for excise, and transport Parimal Suklabaidya.

Suklabaidya was addressing a programme at Darmikhal High School Rukni Part-IV village in Dholai assembly constituency on Sunday where the village was ceremonially declared as a “zero child-marriage village”.

The Board of Secondary Education, Assams (Seba) flip flop on making Assamese Learning mandatory has raised questions on whether the Assamese language will continue to be taught in schools mushrooming in the state.

English is taking over as the medium of instruction in place of lingua franca Assamese in many English medium schools. Besides, there is a tendency to study Hindi by a section of students instead of Assamese.

After making Assamese study compulsory without making it mandatory for qualifying in the Class 10 boards, Seba has withdrawn its latest notification that had triggered a fresh controversy regarding the study of Assamese language in schools affiliated to Seba.

TheAssam forest departmenthas denied allegations of “manipulation” of rhino census data at the Kaziranga and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) – a UNESCO world heritage site, flagged by an RTI activist who accused the park authorities of jacking up the total rhino count from 2,042 to 2,634.

Calling the charges baseless, Assam principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) and head of forest force (HOFF) MK Yadava wrote to the Union forest and Environment ministry to take “suitable action” against RTI activist Rohit Choudhury, who he accused of sharing compartment-wise presence of rhinos in the park, despite restraint by the park director.

The 14th rhino census was carried out at the KNPTR in March last year, which counted 2,634 one-horned rhinos in the park. The final computation of data was carried out on March 28 and 2,613 was the total number of rhinos arrived at during computation.

Choudhury said that in the final computation, the enumerators data of March 26 and 27, 2022, pertaining to 22 blocks was deleted, and the increased numbers of the sample survey of March 28, 2022 were substituted, to jack up the total count from 2,042 to 2,634.

The AFSPA has often been termed as “draconian” by of the north east because of the special powers it grants to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas” and its withdrawal has been demanded by civil Society groups and rights activists. It was imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the State Government.

The demand for repeal of AFSPA from the north east came to the fore in December last year after 13 civilians were gunned down by the Army in a botched anti-insurgency operation in Nagaland and another person was killed in subsequent violence. The demand was made to the Centre even by the chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya.