Cultivators’ organisation accuses Assam government of trying to take over grazing land for corporate interests
Farmers in Assam's Golaghat district are protesting the government's conversion of traditional grazing land into oil palm plantations. The local cultivators' organization claims the project threatens indigenous livelihoods and was implemented without proper community consent.
Why it matters
It highlights the tension between commercial agricultural expansion and the rights of indigenous communities.
Farmers in Golaghat district of eastern Assam have opposed the State government's alleged push for oil palm on grazing land traditionally used by indigenous communities residing along the riverbanks.
The Jeepal Krishak Sramik Sangha, based in Bokakhat near the Kaziranga National Park, criticised Agriculture Minister Pijush Hazarika for threatening the livelihoods of people living along the Brahmaputra river and on its sandbars, allegedly for the benefit of the oil palm lobby.
The organisation said the State government was eyeing large swathes of riverine land at No. 1 Bokuli Sapori under the Bokakhat Assembly constituency. Asom Gana Parishad president Atul Bora, who is also the Panchayat and Rural Development Minister, represents the constituency.
According to the organisation, locals have been using the land, reportedly earmarked for oil palm cultivation, for grazing cows and buffaloes.
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