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Kokrajhar/Guwahati, Sept. 6: The first step towards rehabilitation of the riot-displaced was taken today with Dispur and the Bodoland Territorial Council deciding to send home around 12,000 families having land pattas in the first phase.
The decision to rehabilitate 8,425 families in Kokrajhar and 2,641 in Chirang was taken during the second round of meetings between the group of ministers and the BTC at the Kokrajhar circuit house.
Altogether 18,159 forms were verified in the revenue circles under Kokrajhar district, of which 8,639 forms had insufficient or incorrect information and 1,077 families did not have any land.
In Chirang, 8,282 forms were verified, of which 2,641 families were found to have land pattas while 5,641 did not have land.
Revenue minister Prithibhi Majhi, who chairs the GoM, told reporters that more than 25,000 forms were distributed in relief camps in accordance with the decision taken in the earlier meeting on August 29. After verification, around 12,000 families were found to have land pattas. He said these families would be taken back to their land and “completely rehabilitated” within a month.
Around 13,000 displaced families who do not have land pattas will be verified in the next phase, he added.
“There was no discussion on verification of the voter list. This will discussed in the next meeting,” he said.
Asked about the documents on the basis of which the identification was done, he said, “As of now, those having proper land documents will be rehabilitated first”.
On resettlement in reserve forests, Majhi said according to a Supreme Court judgment, there was no question of having pattas in those areas.
BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary, too, said 12,000 families in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts were found to have land documents, which were checked in accordance with the BTC Accord. “People having land pattas will be identified village-wise and resettled in their respective villages.”
The cases of those who do not have land documents will be discussed in the next meeting and they would be resettled in the second phase, he added.
Mohilary said the state government would provide relief to the resettled for a month so that they might reconstruct their houses.
The BTC chief said the situation was normal. There was no problem of security and the villagers had formed peace committees as well.
The Lok Sabha MP from Kokrajhar, Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today and submitted a 17-point memorandum of demands on relief and rehabilitation, protection and preservation of tribal belts and blocks and prevention of illegal Bangladeshi migrants getting rehabilitation in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) and elsewhere in Assam.
Gauhati High Court today granted bail to Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) MLA Pradip Kumar Brahma, who was arrested for inciting mobs to torch villages during the recent riots in Kokrajhar district. Justice Pranoy Kumar Musahary granted bail after perusal of the case diary and a payment of Rs 30,000 with two sureties of the same amount.
Brahma, who represents Kokrajhar (West), was arrested on August 23 in connection with case number 27/2012 registered at Dotoma police station in Kokrajhar district under Sections 120 B, 147, 148, 149, 436, 427, 379 and 506 IPC.
Brahma’s counsel was advocate Bijon Kumar Mahajan while the state was represented by additional public prosecutor B.D. Gogoi.
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