Assam govt facing problems in BTAD rehabilitation process

GUWAHATI: The state government is facing a big challenge in rehabilitating the victims of the ethnic violence in Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) as a large number of people without land documents were displaced during the conflict. The recent violence in Bilasipara area of Dhubri district has made the task even more complicated.
According to the government, of the 1,42,672-odd people living in relief camps, about 42,000 do not possess any land documents.About 19,675 families possess land documents and their rehabilitation process is on, the government informed.
The recent violence in Bilasipara indicated that even rehabilitation of families with land documents is fraught with complications. The inmates of a relief camp at a government school in Bilasipara recently clashed with security forces when the district administration was trying to rehabilitate those with land documents.
The inmates demanded that all the people currently residing in the relief camp should be taken back to their original villages in BTAD as rehabilitating just the people having land documents would not ensure their safety. In the scuffle that ensued, a police officer was injured, compelling the administration to clamp curfew in the area for about an hour.
Although the situation became normal later, anxiety prevailed among camp inmates as the rehabilitation process is getting delayed. On the other hand, the authorities of schools where the inmates were still lodged are also becoming restive as classes can’t be held properly until the process is over.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi recently said that the state government needs to explore alternatives to resettle those who don’t have any land documents but were displaced from BTAD in the violence. Gogoi asserted that no genuine Indian citizens displaced in the violence should be left out of the rehabilitation process.
The All Assam Minority Students Union (Aamsu) has demanded that all the inmates, irrespective of whether they possess of land documents or not, should be taken back to BTAD. “The government should bring all the inmates to BTAD first and accommodate them in temporary camps. After that they should start rehabilitation based on land papers and other valid documents. Prolonging the stay of inmates in relief camps outside the BTAD will further complicate the rehabilitation process,” Aamsu adviser Abdul Aziz said.