Assam sub-committee on implementation of Assam Accord to finally submit report
Bora said there were 15 recommendations that could only be implemented by the Centre and 12 more that could be implemented jointly by the state and central government
GUWAHATI: A sub-committee set up on the implementation of Assam Accord’s recommendations dealing with constitutional safeguards to Assamese people will submit its report to the state government, Assam minister Atul Bora said on Saturday.
“Our sub-committee identified 67 recommendations by the high-level committee, of which the state government can implement 40. Fifteen recommendations can be implemented only by the Centre and the remaining 12 could be implemented jointly by the state government and the Centre,” Bora said.
Bora, the minister for implementation of Assam Accord, heads the eight-member subcommittee that includes representatives of the All Assam Students Union (AASU).
“We will submit the report on the recommendations to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday... This is an important development regarding the implementation of Clause 6,” said Bora.
The tripartite accord was signed in 1985 by the Centre, Assam government and AASU following a six-year agitation against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
But some key provisions of Clause 6 of the agreement remain unfulfilled. This clause promised appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
In February 2020, a 13-member high-level committee set up by the Centre on how to implement Clause 6 submitted its recommendation.
Assam’s BJP-led government formed a sub-committee, led by Bora, in 2021 to submit a report on how the recommendations could be implemented. The 8-member committee had included Bora, two other state ministers and representatives of AASU.
Back in 2021, the committee was initially given three months to submit its report.
Since the formation of the sub-committee four years ago, Bora said the work on implementing most of the recommendations that came under the state’s purview had started or had been completed and separate budgetary provisions had been made for the same. For other recommendations, the state government is in constant touch with the union home ministry, the nodal ministry for implementing the pact at the Centre.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to make quick progress on implementing all recommendations as per aspirations of the Assamese people. It’s already been many years since the agitation and signing of the Accord,” Bora said.
