Assam govt to give land ownership to over 62,000 landless people in Guwahati

PTI Tezpur (Assam), Feb 18 [dropcap]O[/dropcap]ver 62,000 people will be given land ownership in Guwahati city before the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi said today. “Altogether, 62,000 landless people in Guwahati will be given land patta before the Parliament election, process of which will formally be started from February 24,” Majhi said while inaugurating a new office of Thelamara Revenue Circle. He acknowledged that different organisations, including RTI activist Akhil Gogoi-led Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, have been demanding that the government provide land ownerships to the landless people living in the hill areas within the state capital. “Understanding their woes, our government has initiated a bold step to provide land pattas to those landless people, fulfilling their long pending demand,” Majhi said.The Minister said Assam is soon going to have a new land policy “for the greater interest of the safety of the land of the local people”. Earlier this month, Majhi had said at the Assam Legislative Assembly session that the government has already formed a committee under Chairmanship of Congress MLA Bhumidhar Barman and it was working on the new policy.