Stop eviction of forest settled people under British system, Assam Govt. he insisted

The All India Union of Forest Workers (AIUFWP) has urged the Assam government to stop the planned eviction of villagers settled in Nagaon district’s Lutumari Longjap reserve forest under the British-era system called taungya.

The British rulers introduced the taungya system in the former Burma in the mid-19th century to reduce the cost of logging and afforestation. Derived from the Burmese words taung (hill) and ya (cultivation), this term describes the people and the method of agroforestry they practice by growing food crops alongside saplings of commercial trees, primarily teak.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary of Assam dated June 17, the AIUFWP said that the residents of four Tuangya villages in Lutumari Longjap Forest Reserve in Nagaon Forest Division – Kandarpa Longjap, Padumoni, Hatijur and No. 9 Kheroni – cannot be treated as common encroachers of forest land. It pointed out that their eviction would be in violation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, or FRA, and disregards the historical circumstances under which the villages were established.

Copies of the letter signed by AIUFWP President Sokal Gond, General Secretary Rom and Executive Committee Member Raja Rabbi Hussain have been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other relevant ministries and departments.

The AIUFWP claimed that the taungya forest management system was created and managed by the forest authority itself to settle families of taungya practitioners in forest areas in exchange for their labor in forestry operations. “The situation of four taungya villages in Nagaon forest division clearly shows that they were settled by the forest department but later declared encroachers. This is a gross violation of Article 21A of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to life to its citizens and the fundamental rights accorded to the citizens of this country,” AIUFWP said.

The organization also said residents have all relevant documents, including taungya allotment documents and annual khiraji pattas (land settlement documents with revenue payments), with some families possessing medals awarded during the British campaigns in Burma against Japanese forces during World War II.

AIUFWP appealed to the Assam government to direct the forest department authorities in Nagaon to provide relief to the affected taungya families and cited the example of the Uttar Pradesh government which granted revenue status to 38 forest villages in Bahrajch, Gorakhpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj and Shravastipur districts.

“Only OTFDs (other traditional forest dwellers), including those from the Muslim community, live in these villages,” the organization said.

Published – 21 Jun 2026 21:41 IST