Assam redraws who counts as an ‘original inhabitant’ in heritage land law

2 min readGuwahatiUpdated: Jul 30, 2026 05:11 AM IST Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (File Photo)Two years after it passed legislative amendments that put tight restrictions on the sale and purchase of land around certain institutions, the Assam Assembly passed a revised Bill Wednesday that redefines the phrase “original inhabitants”. The 2024 law was passed but did not come into force. The government Wednesday introduced a revised set of amendments to the Assam Land Revenue and Regulation Act. In 2024, the previous Assam Legislative Assembly had passed the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2024, restricting the sale and purchase of land within a 5-kilometre radius of “iconic heritage structures” over 250 years old to “original inhabitants”, which it defined as