Assam assembly passes Land and Revenue Regulation Bill to safeguard heritage sites

Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that this Bill has included Chapter 12 in the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act, 1886 which will enable us to notify "Heritage Belt and Block" around iconic structures that are over 250 years old.

"Assam fulfils the agenda of stalwarts like Lokpriya Gopinath Borodoloi and Bishnuram Medhi. Our resolve of protecting "Jati, Mati, Bheti" gets a shot in the arm today with the passage of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024," the Assam Chief Minister wrote on X.

He also said, "This legislation will restrict land sale/purchase within a radius of 5 km from heritage places to only inhabitants of the area for the last three generations. My gratitude to all legislators who rose to the occasion to support this Bill in the Assam Legislative Assembly, and support our bid to preserve our cultural identities - Our Mandirs, Naamghars and Sattras."

On the other hand, during the discussions over the bill, the opposition Congress and AIUDF walked out from the state assembly by raising their concerns.

If Assam Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma tries to forcibly repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, the AIUDF will approach the court, said party MLA Dr Rafiqul Islam on Thursday.

In a move to prevent child marriage and eliminate the 'Qazi' system in Muslim marriage registration, the Assam Government introduced a new bill, the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, 2024, last week and the discussions on the same were held in the state assembly on Thursday.

The AIUDF MLA said that amendments had been proposed to the bill, where they suggested that the word 'repeal' be repealed from the bill. He said, "Assam govt has brought a bill to repeal Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935. We have given an amendment to this new bill. We have demanded to repeal the word 'repeal'." (ANI)