Table of Contents
The Gaon Bura of Assam
- the Assam Cabinet announced that Gaon Buras (village headman), village-level functionaries of the district administration, will henceforth be called ‘Gaon Pradhans’
- the move has been criticised by several in Assam as an imposition on the culture and language of the state.
- The institution of Gaon Bura in Assam dates back to the colonial era, when the British appointed the oldest person in the village as the head, who would oversee matters relating to land and revenue in a particular area.
- The position would usually go to the oldest, most knowledgeable man who had good personal ties with everyone in a village, or a cluster of small villages.
- In Arunachal Pradesh, too, the Gaon Buras (and Buris) are the most important village-level functionaries.
- Post-independence, the government continued with the institution and made the Gaon Bura a formal part of the Assam Revenue and Disaster Management department, increasing his responsibilities, and eventually introducing a small honorarium for the role.
- Over the years, the Gaon Bura became central to rural, village life
- while it was earlier a hereditary position (passed on from father to son), today it is a sought-after position that undergoes a competitive recruitment interview held by the district administration.
- A Gaon Bura is paid a monthly honorarium of Rs 9,000 in 2020. One needs to be a Class X pass, and as per the new Cabinet decision, a minimum of 30 years of age (upper limit 65) to apply for the post.
- A number of duties are bestowed on the Gaon Bura, beginning with maintaining a population register of the village, maintaining land records, helping mauzadar in revenue collection, notifying circle officers if there is any encroachment on land, helping police investigate crime, among others.
- In recent years, their role has become more multifarious — whether it involves distribution of relief material during natural disasters like flood, maintaining a log of Covid-19 cases in the village, organising vaccination camps, functioning as booth-level officers during elections, among others.
- Another significant duty of the Gaon Bura is that he/she is the one who can issue a ‘Gaon Bura certificate’, a certificate that determines your permanent residency in a particular village,” said Bora.
- During the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Gaon Bura certificate became crucial for women (who had no other documents) to establish linkages with their husbands and parents.
- The government has reasoned that a number of young men (and women) become Gaon Buras, and thus, the word ‘Bura’ (meaning old in Assamese) is no longer appropriate.
- even if ‘Bura’ literally means old in Assamese, the word has more variations. “Even in rural life, the most senior member of the family (even if he may not be particularly old in age) is called the ‘Bura’ of the house. It may also mean wise, knowledgeable.
- It is a beautiful, historically rich word of the Assamese language
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