The Assam government’s approval of an ordinance to allow conversion of land without clearances for setting up micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) triggered protests across the State on July 2.
The State Cabinet had on June 29 approved the industrial ordinance, whose details are not available. The ordinance awaits approval of Governor Jagdish Mukhi.
Members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) burnt copies of the ordinance across all its urban and rural units on Thursday, calling it a “betrayal of trust” by the Bharatiya Janata Party that had come to power promising to protect ‘jati’ (race), ‘mati’ (land) and ‘bheti’ (hearth).
“The BJP has taken advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown to plot the end of the indigenous people in the name of reviving the economy. Instead of bringing in investments to boost the farm economy of the local people, it is paving the way for industrialists who have scant regard for the people, the land and the ecology,” AASU’s general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi told The Hindu.
The All Assam Tribal Sangha slammed the ordinance too. “Large swathes of the tribal blocks and belts protected during the British regime have already been encroached upon. We cannot accept this ordinance that threatens tribal areas by facilitating the easy transfer of land to non-indigenous industrialists,” the Sangha’s secretary-general Aditya Khakhlari said.
Minister’s clarification
Assam’s Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary has, meanwhile, clarified that the ordinance will not be applicable for hazardous industries and no industry will be allowed in eco-sensitive zones. “The ordinance has been approved for MSMEs only to largely help local entrepreneurs,” he said.
