40,000 landless indigenous people of Assam to get pattas

The Assam government on Thursday decided to provide land pattas (deeds) to more than 40,000 landless indigenous people of the state on January 28, an official said here.

It was decided at a review meeting of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department chaired by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The chief minister directed the Department to take steps to distribute land pattas to other beneficiaries in later phases so that the state government's commitment to provide land pattas to 1 lakh landless indigenous people could be achieved, the official said.

It was also decided at the meeting that 160 temples of the state would receive Rs 2 lakh annually in addition to the regular annuity they are provided by the state government.

The meeting also decided that the Arundhati Gold Scheme would be ceremonially launched in the first week of March, in which beneficiaries of economically weaker sections would be given money for purchasing 10 grams of gold ornaments for registering marriages.

Directing the Revenue and Disaster Management Department to bring the utilisation certificates of flood management funds from deputy commissioners of districts, Sonowal also directed Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna to review the fund utilisation status.