NEW DELHI, Aug 30 � Even as the controversy over the land swap deal with Dhaka rages on, the Centre on Tuesday disclosed that Bangladesh is in adverse possession of 665 acres in Assam sector.
A few patches of Indian land have been adversely possessed by Bangladesh since partition, said Minister of State for Home Affairs, M Ramachandran in reply to a question by Bijoya Chakravarty.
According to the minutes of the Fourth Joint Boundary Working Group (JBWG) meeting held here in November last year, Bangladesh has 160 acres in adverse possession in Kalabari, Barolbari, Dhubri, 360 acres in Palakhal, Karimganj and 145 acres in Nagaon, Karimganj.
The position is not attributed to erection of fence on Indo-Bangladesh border, the Minister said.
Taking the protest to street, AGP yesterday sought Assam Governor�s intervention to resolve the disputes over areas under adverse possession between India and Bangladesh to prevent surrender of land to the neighbouring country. The AGP said that it was against handing over of even an inch of State�s land to Bangladesh.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had recently mentioned settlement of the border dispute by stating that the stage was set for exchange of the land in adverse possession and possible complete demarcation of the border.
He had even contended that India will get back more land than Bangladesh under the agreement, tipped to be signed during the Prime Minister�s forthcoming Bangladesh visit.
Meanwhile, the Centre has �advised� Assam government that the report of the Cabinet Sub-committee on update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be expedited and timelines for completion of the pilot project be suggested, the Minister said in a separate reply in the Lok Sabha.
The Government of Assam has set up a Cabinet sub-committee to examine difficulties being faced in the process for update of NRC and to make recommendations for making the process simple and convenient.
The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules 2003 has been amended for preparation of the NRC 1951 in Assam based on relevant records. Two pilot projects for updating the NRC in two districts of Kamrup and Barpeta, were started on June 1 last year, the Minister said.
Assam Government informed the Home Ministry that application forms were issued for updating the NRC and some 19500 applications were received in Chaygaon and 15669 in Barpeta revenue circle.
