Assam to Introduce Law Restricting Land Sales to Preserve Indigenous Communities: CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced a new law aimed at addressing demographic shifts and protecting indigenous communities in Assam.

Speaking about the challenges faced by communities such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Koch Rajbongshi, Sarma highlighted the issue of land sales and the pressure these communities face to sell their properties due to surrounding demographic changes. He described a similar situation observed in Jharkhand's Pakur district, where repetitive land purchases by outsiders lead to villagers being forced to sell their land.

In response to these issues, Sarma's government plans to introduce legislation that will restrict land sales within specific communities. According to the proposed law, SC communities will only be allowed to sell their lands to other SC individuals, ST communities to ST individuals, and OBC communities to OBC individuals, particularly in areas such as undivided Goalpara district where demographic changes are most pronounced.

Sarma emphasized that this measure, along with other actions outlined in their manifesto, aims to combat both "love jihad" and "land jihad" and will be implemented over the next two years.

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