PM Modi to gift plots to 1 lakh ‘indigenous’ people in Assam

GUWAHATI: Kickstarting Assam’s largest land dole since Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally hand over ownership of up to seven bighas of farmland each and smaller plots for homesteads to over one lakh “indigenous” landless people in the historic town of Sivasagar on Saturday.
PM Modi’s first visit to the state in almost a year will be as much about setting the tone for BJP’s re-election campaign as about reflecting on the party’s 2016 election-winning pledge to protect “jati, mati and bheti (identity, land and homeland)”.
Each rural beneficiary will get 1.08 lakh sq ft of land for agriculture — one Assam bigha equals 14,400 sq ft — and another one-bigha plot to build a house. Those living in towns will get a 1.1-cottah plot each — a cottah is 2,880 sq ft — while a beneficiary based in Guwahati will be entitled to 1.5 cottah, which is the minimum stipulated land size for a municipality-approved house.
“The people of Assam will remain ever grateful to PM Modi and welcome him to this historic event. The land distribution will induce confidence among the indigenous people that the government is committed to protecting their ‘jati, mati and bheti’ at a time when there is a threat to the land rights of the native people from illegal immigrants,” CM Sarbananda Sonowal said.
He said, “To reverse ‘uncontrolled migration’ trend, it became imperative for the present government to ensure grant of land to the indigenous landless families.”