Assam proposes changes in ordinance on industries to protect land rights of indigenous people

Hindustan Times
Dated : July, 10, 2020
By Utpal Parashar

Following opposition and concerns, Assam government on Thursday announced changes to a recent ordinance of setting up industries in order to protect land rights of indigenous people of the state.
On June 29, Assam cabinet had passed an ordinance allowing setting up of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) industries by just submitting a self-declaration without taking any permission for a period of three years and added that land for setting up industries would be “deemed converted”.
The move had led to apprehensions that ‘outsiders’ would purchase agricultural land and convert them for industrial purpose without any checks, which might hurt land rights of indigenous people.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, industries minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed that in order to address the concerns Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal held a meeting earlier this week to discuss provisions of the “draft ordinance related to use of land”.
“It was unanimously decided that stringent measures and provisions should be made so that the right of the indigenous people are protected and kept unaffected,” said the minister.
Patowary said a provision has been proposed to be made in the draft MSME ordinance that all provisions of the Assam Agricultural Land (Regulation of Reclassification and Transfer for Non-Agricultural Purpose) Act, 2015 and other laws will have to be followed for setting up any enterprise and no exemption will be given under the aforesaid Act or any land related Act for any business initiative or business enterprise.
“Earlier there was a provision that after getting the acknowledgement certificate, agricultural land was proposed to be deemed converted for non agricultural purpose to set up an industry,” said the minister.
“But now it is proposed that so far as land is concerned, no such exemption will be given. The business enterprises will have to take all the permission, clearance and approval related to land before starting any industry,” added Patowary.
Also all land related laws and provisions under the Assam Agricultural Land (Regulation of Reclassification and Transfer for Non-Agricultural Purpose) Act, 2015 will have to be followed by all enterprises.
Existing provisions in the draft ordinance restricting use of public grazing reserves, village grazing reserves, wetland, heritage, historical and archaeological sites, land belonging religious institutions and land in tribal belts and blocks, for setting up industries will remain.
Patowary said that due to Covid-19 more than 3.5 lakh people have returned from various parts of the country to Assam and the MSME ordinance was drafted keeping them into consideration so that they could set up industries in own land.
“Keeping in mind apprehensions of the people, government has decided to make more stringent arrangement so that there should be no ambiguity that the rights of the local people are protected. The government reassures its commitment to the rights of the indigenous people over their land,” he said.
Reference:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ED tracks Swiss Bank A/Cs of Agusta scamster

The Poineer February 10,2019 Rakesh K Singh The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tracked a dozen Swiss bank accounts in the name of Rajiv Saxena, who is key accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The ED has also found out accounts held by  his family members and associates where the kickbacks in the now scrapped deal were allegedly parked. Two bank accounts are in the name of Rajiv Saxena’s  associates Pankaj Jain and Sumita Jain who are also the authorised signatories. The  third is in the name of another associate Ajit Singh Bubber, but Rajiv and his family members are authorised signatories. The remaining nine accounts are largely owned and operated by Rajiv, his family members and associates. Rajiv Saxena was deported by the UAE authorities on January 30 and the ED formally arrested him the next day and a court later granted his remand to the agency. He is currently undergoing custodial interrogation by the ED. The agency had in 2017 arrested his
Read more

J&K Cricket Board Scam: Chargesheet Filed Against Farooq Abdullah, 3 Others By CBI

OUTLOOK July 16, 2018 The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah and three others. The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and three others in a special court in Srinagar in connection with alleged irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. After the fall of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP government, this is the biggest development that has taken place in the state. The National Conference has not reacted to the chargesheet so far. The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah, the then president of JKCA, Md Saleem Khan - the then general secretary, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza - the then treasuer and Bashir Ahmad Misgar, an executive in the J&K Bank. The BCCI gave Rs 112 crore t
Read more

As financial insecurity rises in urban India, so does investment in insurance

Image
Scroll.in March 13, 2020 Urban Indians are becoming less confident about their financial security. Up to 58% of them fret over financial independence post retirement, which is a 4% increase from last year. An equal share of urban Indians worry about meeting their daily medical expenses and sustaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. The findings are part of a survey published by Delhi-based Max Life Insurance in association with London-based consultancy Kantar. The firms surveyed 7,014 respondents in 25 cities, including six metros, nine tier-1 cities, and 10 tier-2 cities, between December 2019 and January 2020. Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz The trends Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz A significant share of urban Indians also say their families will have no financial support in the event of the breadwinner’s death. In such a scenario, around 57% believe the family sav
Read more