Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday launched a web portal, through which indigenous people living in “sensitive areas” can apply for arms licences. Chief Minister said the aim of the initiative is to enable responsible citizens to aid and assist the Government in maintaining peace, and law and order situation in the State. He said the licences will be granted after proper scrutiny and a multi-layered process.
Chief Minister said the licences will be granted to those individuals who do not have any criminal antecedents and are mentally stable. They will also need to take arms training and have to prove why they are vulnerable, he added. “This is a religious and politically neutral scheme. Licences will be given to people of all communities who are indigenous or original inhabitants, and whose three generations have lived in that area,” he said.
CM Sarma, however, said, “We are concerned about the demographic invasion and security of people who were once a majority but have now been reduced to a minority”.
He claimed there are certain areas where demography is changing rapidly, as people of a certain religion “first come as guests and then start buying land from the original inhabitants by force, leaving them with no choice but to leave their homes”.
“There are, however, some indigenous people who refuse to leave their land and have been reduced to a minority. This scheme is for these vulnerable people who have bravely stayed on, protecting the land of their ancestors, religion and culture,” he said.
He asserted that this “positive scheme” is aimed at instilling a sense of security in “these brave Assamese and Indians”.
“The Government is trying to empower the vulnerable people as we cannot compromise with their security,” he said.
It has been observed that ‘localised and micro-level security challenges sometime demand lawful access to self-defence, especially for our original inhabitants and indigenous citizens. This special scheme would help the citizens to empower themselves from any covert and overt design of aggression on them’, the CM said.
Sarma said the state government “will not give arms but only give licences under the Indian Arms Act”.
He said the scheme will be implemented by the district commissioners and senior superintendents of police who will exercise their power responsibly.
“If it is misused, officers will be held responsible, and so they are bound to exercise their statutory powers with complete neutrality and objectivity,” he said.
“The licences will be given to individuals living in those areas where the response time to any incident by police takes at least two hours. The licence holders will act as the first responder (in case of any incident),” he added.
“People living in places like Guwahati, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Silchar will not get licences under this scheme as police can respond within minutes in these areas,” he added.
Sarma said under this scheme, applicants residing in vulnerable and remote areas will be eligible to apply, subject to rigorous field-level security assessments, police verification, and the recommendation of the Senior Superintendent of Police.
Licences will be issued only after careful vetting and with full compliance to all legal provisions under the Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules, 2016, he said.
The home and political department may call for periodic reports from the district magistrates and SSPs on the implementation of this special scheme.
The CM also appealed to the public to make responsible use of this facility.
Sarma said the scheme was not brought for sensationalism but to secure the lives and properties of people living in remote and vulnerable areas.
“It is a precautionary measure and a defence mechanism until reinforcements reach the area,” he said.
“The arms will also act as a deterrent as people tend to fear those who have arms in their homes,” he said.
The CM said all individuals who apply for arms licences will be given training in their respective districts by accredited trainers, who are either retired police or army officials.
The Assam cabinet had taken a decision on May 28, 2025 in this matter and subsequently the government notified a special scheme for grant of arms licenses to original inhabitants and indigenous Indian citizens living in vulnerable areas under the Arms Act 1959 and the Arms Rules 2016.
After the cabinet decision on arms licence, the CM had said some of the districts in “vulnerable and remote areas” were Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Nagaon and South Salmara-Mankachar, and named some other localities like Rupahi, Dhing and Jania which are all minority-dominated places.
All applications will be individually scrutinized from the perspective of threat perception, personal security requirements, and the necessity of possessing the licensed arms based on field level inputs and assessments by designated police and intelligence authorities.
