Himanta Biswa invites AAMSU & AIUDF to discuss 'population control' with him

GUWAHATI: Assam's chief minister Himanta Biswa today lashing out at the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) over their opposition to the eviction of minority Muslim settlers and said that they should preach 'population control instead.

Sarma said that the government has so far cleared 180 bighas of land in Sipajhar, and 2,500 in Hojai as part of its 'eviction drive' seen to be targetting the minority community members branded as 'outsiders.' Sarma said that the minority community organizations (such as the AIUDF and AAMSU) should join him to discuss these matters.

"If the population continues to increase, there will be problem in regards to space. To all those who say eviction should not be there -- we cannot give space in forests and temples," Sarma said in an oblique reference to 'char' area settlers mostly from the minority Muslim community.

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A time will come when people will also have to squat in Kamakhya -- where else will they stay? But the local populace will never accept that [...] If one family has 10-12 children, how will we accomodate them. So, the Assam government will take a few more steps which will encourage population control," Sarma added.

"We have already enacted a population control policy and we are already working on it. But more importantly, we want to work with the minority Muslim community," he added.

Sarma also said that tribals have not encroached upon forest land and therefore, the government will expedite the process of giving them land patta in forests.

Samir Sinha, terming the scheme as a "solid", added that all the money handed out to the children will be doled out from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

"As the first feature of the scheme, we will put an amount of Rs. 3,500 to as fixed deposit and this amount will be available to the child," Sinha said.

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