Cabinet clears boundary land swap agreement Bill

Bill mentions the enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya that are to be transferred to Bangladesh and those to be acquired from the neighbouring country

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared a Bill to get the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) ratified by Parliament. The Bill mentions the enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya that are to be transferred to Bangladesh, as well as those to be acquired from the neighbouring country.

The Bill is scheduled to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, with nearly the entire Opposition, including the Trinamool Congress, likely to support it.

The constitutional amendment Bill (it entails amending the first schedule of the Constitution) will have to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the two Houses and, subsequently, by state legislatures. The first schedule of the Constitution delineates the areas of each state and Union territory.

The LBA was signed in 1974, though it wasn't ratified by Parliament. A protocol for the transfer of territories was signed between former PM Manmohan Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina in September 2011. In December 2013, a Bill was introduced the Rajya Sabha in this regard. It was then referred to a parliamentary standing committee, which submitted a report on the matter in December 2014.

Sources in the government say major Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, are on board. Earlier, the government had planned to bring the Bill in the Lok Sabha, albeit without it mentioning the territories in Assam to be handed over. After the Opposition, including the Congress, said they were opposed to this, another Bill, which included the Assam territories, was sent to the Cabinet.

As Assembly elections are due in both Assam and Bengal next year, some within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thought it could be an emotive issue. On Monday, BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders met leaders from Assam. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, along with RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal, attended the meeting, held at the residence of BJP chief Amit Shah.

Sources say the Bill could help deal with the problem of immigration into Assam from Bangladesh.

The LBA entails India transferring 111 enclaves, with a total area of 6,944 hectares, to Bangladesh and getting 51 enclaves (2,877 hectares) in return. According to a fact-sheet of the external affairs ministry, "while on paper, the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh might seem like a loss of Indian land to Bangladesh, it is actually quite different, as the enclaves are located deep inside the territory of both countries and there has been no physical access to them from either country…in reality, the exchange of enclaves denotes only a notional exchange of land".

Apart from the enclaves, the two sides will also recognise each other's right to certain adverse possessions of land. India will receive 1,123 hectares and transfer 917 hectares to Bangladesh.