Assam govt exempts tribals, tea communities from two-child policy

Guwahati: The Assam government has decided to exempt tribal groups, including the tea tribes, Morans, and Motoks, from the state’s two-child policy for government employment.

The move aims to protect these indigenous communities from a potential decline in population and the loss of their distinct identities.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the decision after chairing a state cabinet meeting on Thursday. “The cabinet has approved an exemption for members of the tea tribes, Morans, Motoks, and Scheduled Tribes from the two-child restriction under the state’s population policy,” Sarma said. “If we continue enforcing the policy for these groups, they may lose their identity and face extinction within the next 50 years,” he warned.

The Chief Minister pointed out that the Moran community’s population stands at only about one lakh and cited recommendations from social scientists who emphasized the need to relax the two-child rule for the survival of such micro-communities.

Sarma clarified that the Assam Public Services Rules, 2019—which introduced the two-child norm in January 2021—will still apply to all other communities. However, the government will gradually link the policy to certain welfare schemes while keeping the exemption intact for indigenous groups.

In other cabinet decisions, Sarma announced that the government will table the long-pending Tiwari Commission Report on the 1983 Nellie massacre during the upcoming November session of the state assembly. He explained, “We did not present the report earlier because the commission chairman had not signed the government’s copy. We have now verified its authenticity by conducting official interviews and forensic checks.”

The cabinet also approved plans to amend the Land Ceiling Act, paving the way for the distribution of 2.9 lakh bighas (about 96,000 acres) of land among four lakh families from the tea tribe community—a move the Chief Minister described as a major step in social empowerment.

Additionally, the government cleared a proposal to revise the cost of Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd’s methanol and formalin project from Rs 1,709.18 crore to Rs 2,267.22 crore, which includes additional equity support from the state.