Cabinet greenlights landmark reforms on land, identity verification & council elections
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also announced new measures to curb illegal infiltration and misuse of Aadhar.

Guwahati, June 27: In a series of decisions taken during the Assam Cabinet meeting on Friday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced changes aimed at community empowerment, streamlined governance, and stringent measures to curb infiltration and document misuse.
Key approvals included amendments to the Moran and Matak Autonomous Council Acts, large-scale land allotments under Mission Basundhara 3.0, and new administrative safeguards concerning Aadhar issuance and birth certificates.
The Cabinet passed the Moran Autonomous Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 and the Matak Autonomous Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, modifying the 2020 Acts. The ordinances redefine council areas to include only those villages where the Moran or Matak communities are in majority, as notified by the state government.
“Only population belonging to the Moran or Matak community in the notified areas will be eligible to vote for the respective councils. No other groups will interfere in those electoral processes,” said CM Sarma.
“Separate voter lists will be prepared, and we will hold elections by November–December this year", he added.
Each council’s General Body will consist of 30 elected members, with 5 seats reserved for women of the respective communities, promoting both community leadership and gender inclusion.
The Cabinet also approved the allotment of government land under Mission Basundhara 3.0. The approvals include:
- 942 infrastructure projects of state government departments across 11 districts
- 1,977 non-government educational, religious, and socio-cultural institutions in 12 districts
“We’ve covered anganwadi centres, lower primary schools, temples, namghars, mahila committees, clubs, all of them now have pattas. This move will ensure that essential grassroots institutions finally have legal rights over the land they use,” the CM said.
The Cabinet also amended the Assam Panchayat (Constitution) Rules, 1995 to ensure fair representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Zilla Parishad offices.
The reservation of President/Vice President posts in ZPs will now be done through a lottery and rotational system, excluding seats already reserved by similar means. The process will be conducted publicly in the presence of political representatives and administrative officials to ensure transparency.
CM Sarma announced strong administrative changes to prevent illegal Aadhar enrollment by foreign nationals, particularly Bangladeshi infiltrators.
“Only the District Commissioner will be authorised to issue Aadhar to adults now. Earlier, anyone could get it done at an Aadhaar Kendra, not anymore. This will ensure no Bangladeshi gets it fraudulently,” Sarma emphasised.
He also stated that birth certificate acquisition will now be tightened, routed through the DC’s office, with mandatory documentation for both birth and death registration becoming a precondition for voter list inclusion.
“We are working on strict laws to stop infiltration. Just yesterday, we pushed back 20 illegal Bangladeshi nationals,” he added.
Addressing the recent Bokakhat grenade blast, the Chief Minister confirmed that all accused have been arrested, and a larger conspiracy involving planned blasts in Golaghat, Tezpur, Guwahati, and Lakhimpur has been uncovered.
“These weren’t militants per se one was an ex-ULFA man, others had histories in petty crimes and drug peddling. We have recovered all other grenades and a pistol. One key person is still absconding, and we are investigating who incited this group.”
On the controversial APSC recruitment scam, the CM clarified that the Gauhati High Court has not reinstated the accused but has directed that discharge orders be made non-stigmatic.
“There is no order to reinstate anyone. The HC said the discharge orders shouldn’t mention the APSC case, so people can work elsewhere. We’re considering approaching the Supreme Court, particularly regarding the Assam Police services,” Sarma stated.