Crackdown on child marriage to go on to check population: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to House

GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday told the House that the crackdown on child marriages is a step towards controlling population as well as saving young girls from falling victim to this social evil. This will continue, he added.
He said, "Gauhati High Court has not passed any order against the Assam government on this crackdown on child marriages. As a CM and with all responsibility I am saying the high court has not made any negative remark against Assam government. The high court has said these are serious offences."
Sarma said an equal number of Hindus and Muslims have been arrested in the ongoing crackdown on child marriages, which was launched in an intensified manner on February 3 this year.
Replying to the opposition's accusation that the government is targeting the minority community through various drives, Sarma said, "The minority community of the state is currently living in the 'most peaceful ever atmosphere' possible."
Sarma asserted that his government will continue its crackdown on illegal activities, such as eviction drive in encroached forest areas, child marriages and other criminal activities, and the police will not hesitate to firing in self-defence.
Sarma said the ongoing eviction drives, especially in forest and protected areas, are being carried out mostly according to court orders and laws enacted during Congress regimes.
"Just as the Congress had exempted the tribals from eviction from forest lands while making the law, they should have included people of minority community also or those affected by erosion. Congress should stop shedding crocodile tears for the minorities now as they are living in the most peaceful atmosphere ever in the state and development activities, like construction of roads, educational institutions and houses, are going on in full swing through different government schemes," Sarma said.
He said eviction drives will continue and if MLAs feel that genuine citizens with bona fide reasons are being affected, they can request for some time to get these people re-settled before the operation is undertaken.
Sarma said encroachment is linked to population growth. "Eviction is not the real problem. Population explosion is the real issue and if we can't control it, pressure over land will continue."
Illegal foreigners:
The Assam government informed the assembly on Wednesday that over 1.5 lakh illegal foreigners have been identified according to the Assam Accord so far in the state and more than 30,000 of them have been deported to their country of origin.In a written reply to a query by AGP MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Assam Accord implementation minister Atul Bora said a total of 1,53,129 immigrants staying illegally in Assam have been detected so far through the Foreigners Tribunal (FT) and "out of them, 32,193 came before 1971 and 1,20,936 came after 1971".
Climate change:
Agriculture minister Atul Bora informed the house that the state's farmers are facing serious challenges from climate change, reduced fertility of soil and rising population and the government is taking various initiatives to mitigate the impact of these challenges."We want Assam to feature among the top 5 states of India and agriculture will play a pivotal role in achieving that. Over 70% of the state's population is engaged in farming and it accounts for 20% of the GDP," he said.
Assam has 27.42 lakh agriculture families, of which only 0.14% are "big farmers", Bora informed the house. "In recent times, we have seen educated, new-generation youths getting involved in the agriculture sector. This trend increased after the Covid pandemic," he added.
"The production of rice, pulses and corn has seen an increase. We are focusing on production of corn along the Brahmaputra Valley. We are also becoming self-sufficient in producing paddy seeds," he said.
Liquor shops licences:
The state government has issued 757 licences for liquor outlets and bars since 2016 and the excise revenue has jumped to over Rs 3,548 crore.In a written reply to a query, excise minister Parimal Shuklabadya said new licences were issued to 390 bars, 14 foreign liquor shops and 353 Indian liquor outlets since the first BJP government came to power in the state in 2016.
He added that 408 bars located in village areas have been transformed into foreign liquor shops during the last seven years.
"Currently, there are 2,571 IMFL 'ON' (bars) and IMFL 'OFF' shops, while the number of country liquor outlets are 781," the minister said.
He said the excise department has collected over Rs 1 crore as fines since 2018-19 for violation of various excise rules.