Guwahati, May 28 (PTI) The Assam government will give arms licences to indigenous people living in “vulnerable and remote” areas for instilling a sense of security in them, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference here, Sarma said the decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet after reviewing the “demand” of the people living in these areas.
“Assam is a very different and sensitive state. Assamese people living in some areas have been feeling insecure and they have been demanding arms licences for a long time,” he said.
In the backdrop of recent developments in Bangladesh and the state government’s recent drive against suspected foreigners, the indigenous people in such areas feel that they might be attacked, Sarma said.
“The government will be lenient in giving licences to eligible people, who have to be original inhabitants and must belong to the indigenous community living in vulnerable and remote areas of the state. It will give additional courage to them,” he added.
Sarma said some of the districts in this category are Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon and South Salmara-Mankachar, naming some other areas such as Rupahi, Dhing and Jania.
“Our people are minority in these places. The scheme will be applicable throughout the state. So, we may consider giving arms licences to our people living in Hatigaon area of Guwahati city if they apply for it,” he said.
The areas and districts that the CM mentioned are all minority-dominated places.
The CM claimed that indigenous people in such areas have been demanding arms licence for safety purposes since the Assam Agitation, which took place in 1979-85.
“Had previous governments given them arms licences, many people would not have to sell their lands and leave the places. We could have saved a lot of lands from being occupied,” he said, hinting at encroachments by suspected illegal foreigners of Bengali-Muslim origin.
“This scheme will act as a deterrent to unlawful threats and enhance the personal security and confidence of such individuals and communities,” he added.
Talking about other decisions in the meeting, Sarma said the cabinet has approved relaxation in admissible categories of land for cultivation of oil palm under National Mission of Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).
“Cultivation of oil palm in different categories of land under NMEO-OP in addition to farmers having ‘Myadi Patta’ land and ‘Eksonia Patta’ land has been allowed. This will allow more farmers to avail benefits under NMEO-OP,” he added.
The CM said that the cabinet has also approved seeking Rs 250 crore assistance for the upgradation of 34 polytechnics and 43 government ITIs into Centres of Excellence in collaboration with Tata Technology Ltd.
Besides, the government has approved an allotment of land to Greenko Energies for the development of a 900 MW off-stream pumped storage project in West Karbi Anglong. The project is likely to see an investment of Rs 6,000 crore, he added.
“To honour several stalwarts of Assam, the cabinet has approved renaming many institutions in their names,” Sarma said. PTI TR SOM TR ACD
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