Assam will expedite the process of handing over land ownership rights to landless families of indigenous people in all districts of the state, reported The Assam Tribune. The state government will provide the patta (document for land ownership) during its current term, said Minister of State for Revenue and Disaster Management Bhabesh Kalita in the Assembly on Monday.

Replying to a motion by Asom Gana Parishad legislator Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Bhabesh Kalita said the state would now use technology to expedite the process in all 33 districts of the state. “We are expediting the process through the required technological interventions as well,” Bhabesh Kalita told The Assam Tribune. “The mandals [tehsils] are also being given two-wheelers for faster movement in connection with land survey and settlement.”

A total of 9,599 pattas and land allotment certificates are ready to be distributed, he added.

The state government will also simplify the process of land settlement for the benefit of the indigenous people, said Kalita. “The deputy commissioners of all the districts have been instructed to play their mandated part in the process for hassle-free transfer of land and land rights to the landless indigenous,” he said. “They have also been asked to hold monthly meetings of sub-divisional land advisory committees.”

The government’s land policy of 1989 included a provision to grant land rights to the state’s indigenous people, said Bhabesh Kalita. In villages, families are entitled to one bigha (14,400 square feet of land) for housing purposes and another seven bighas for agriculture and related activities. For Guwahati city and other towns, one katha (2,880 square feet of a land) and 10 lechas (144 square foot of a land) are allotted for housing, while two kathas are provided for agricultural activities. “This process of land settlement is on,” he said.