JAMUGURIHAT, March 20 � The Asom Satra Mahasabha has vehemently opposed the false statement made by the revenue minister on the floor of the Assembly on March 10 that only 71 bigha, 1 katha and 4 lechas of Satra land is under encroachment in Assam.
Bhaba Goswami, general secretary of the Mahasabha in a press release stated that a total of 6576 bighas of land belonging to 39 satras of Assam is under encroachment which has been furnished with details by the Mahasabha to the government of Assam. Goswami alleged that the minister was telling lies with an eye on the votes of these encroachers as the maximum number of such encroachers are suspected Bangladeshis.
He also stated that in response to a writ petition filed in the Gauhati High Court, the court had ordered the DCs and SPs concerned to evict such encroachers, but the Government has termed a deaf ear to such order.
On the other hand, Goswami alleged that the revenue minister had failed to present the detailed picture of the utilisation of the Rs 10 crore allocated for the satras in 2006-07, as the same had not been given to the satras till now.
The Chief Minister sent a proposal of Rs 96.57 crores to the Central Government for the development of the satras, and the Prime Minister also responded favourably but not a rupee has been released sofar, it is alleged. The Mahasabha had demanded a separate directorate and a ministry for the development of the satras as the Cultural Directorate and Archaeological Directorate had failed to deliver the good but with no avail. While meeting the Governor of Assam, the Mahasabha was assured of preferential treatment, but that was also not done, Goswami alleged.
If such negligence continues to the 900 odd satras, which had contributed a lot to the social and cultural development of the people of the region, the apex body fears that the future of the satras are very bleak.
Wild boar: A tusked huge wild boar coming out from Panpur Reserve Forest in search of food created havoc in Malobosti, Gaminipal recently. As a huge number of people gathered to witness the rare animal. In panic it ran better shelter and in the process injured two people, Sarada Mahodas (36) and Pradip Baishya (12) seriously. Ultimately the people killed the boar after fighting more than 2.3 hours and even wanted to consume flesh, but because of the interference of �Green Bird�, an NGO, it could not happen.
