DIBRUGARH, Jan 8 — A controversial decision to put up a boundary wall around the campus of the Assam Medical College (AMC) during 1982-83 by its then principal Dr Nekibur Zaman, has put the institution authorities in a quandary. For, the wall excludes more than 442 bighas of land which old land records say, belong to AMC. The matter has since been taken up by the local Youth Leadership Centre (YLC), which has also filed a public interest complaint before the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Earlier too, the matter was reported in a section of the print media, but lost significance as there has no follow-up in the case.
On June 14, 1962, the then principal of AMC informed the Director of Health Services (DHS), Assam, that an area of 820 bighas, 1 katha and 5 lessa has been acquired for the medical college. The break-up of the land acquired was as follows: 228 bighas 4 katha 2 lessa from the Upper Assam tea Company, 225 bighas from Barbari and Ethelwold tea estates, 2 bighas 14 lessa government land, 23 bighas 15 lessa from private land owners and 341 bighas 14 lessa from villagers of Segunbari and the Barbari tea estate. Old records, like gazette notifications, are testimony to this claim.
YLC activists here claim that the parties from whom the lands were requisitioned were paid the compensation dues in due course of time. This also sets to rest the claims by certain parties that they ‘donated land’ for AMC. The YLC activists further said they have submitted proof of their claim before the AHRC. The moot question is if the AMC authority of that time secured its boundary by building a pucca wall, what is the controversy about a ‘left out area’? This question is significant, as a vast tract of 442 bighas of land seem to have vanished into thin air. When the AMC authority stated in an official letter that the institution has been provided with 820 bighas 1 katha 5 lessa land in 1962, under what circumstances was only 478 bighas fenced with a concrete wall? Was any AMC land ever sold to somebody in this interim period between 1962 and 2002? There is no record that speaks of any such sale.
The controversy arose in 1996, when the AMC’s then principal, Dr Bhadreswar Das, wrote a letter (No. 96/AMC/12954 dated 31.12.96) to the Dibrugarh DC’s office, stating that the land under possession of the AMC measures 478 bighas and 11 lessa. He went on to refute the contents of the earlier land possession letter (No. W/AMC-5 dated 14.6.62) which had claimed that the area of land acquired for the AMC measured 820 bighas 1 katha 5 lessa. (This letter was preceded by a telegram sent to the DHS, Assam, Shillong by the AMC principal, which read: “your telegram 153/PD twelfth instant a total area of land acquired for Assam Medical College eight hundred twenty bighas one katha and five lessas only aaa details posted”).
The two contradictory official communications have led to the rise of suspicion that some land sharks may have managed to usurp land which lawfully should be in the hands of the AMC. To buttress his claim, Dr Das quoted a revenue department communication, written by the SDC Dibrugarh (East) to the principal, AMC vide letter No. 2471 dated 8.3.52. It is said that this letter has mentioned of an area of 478 bighas 11 lessas for the AMC.
According to the communication signed by Dr Das on 31.12.1996, the land that was acquired for the AMC comprised 228 bighas 4 kathas 2 lessas from the Upper Assam Tea Company, 225 bighas from the Barbari and Ethelwold tea estates, 23 bighas 15 lessas from private persons and 2 bighas 14 lessas of government land. He also stated that the Upper Assam Tea Company land was acquired as a gift from its owners. The remainder of the Barbari tea estate has since been renamed as Jalannagar tea estate.
As on today, and as things stand, the matter has to be permanently settled, since the sentiments of a cross section of the people is involved in the matter. Either the AMC principal of 1962 is right or the person who held the chair in 1996 is right. The task has been made all the more difficult with several vital documents missing and most of the existing ones becoming too dog-eared for easy comprehension. In the meanwhile, one will always keep thinking as to what happened to 472 bighas of real estate that has since become a prime property in the present day context.