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Assam forms panel to prepare framework for implementation of Assam Accord
The commissioner and secretary of the Implementation of Assam Accord Department, GD Tripathi, said that the sub-committee will submit its report within the next three months.
An eight-member committee was set up by the Assam government on Saturday to prepare the framework for implementation of Assam Accord and all of its clauses. The committee will also focus especially on the Clause-6 report which will be prepared by a central panel in a bid to protect the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the indigenous people, officials told news agency PTI.
The commissioner and secretary of the Implementation of Assam Accord Department, GD Tripathi, said that the sub-committee will submit its report within the next three months.
“The Governor of Assam is pleased to constitute a sub-committee to examine and prepare a framework for implementation of all clauses of Assam Accord in general with special emphasis on Clause-6 (High Level Committee Report)," the notification said.
The notifications also said that emphasis will be placed on Clause 7, 9 and 10 along with updating the National Register of Citizens, issues of flood and erosion, rehabilitation of families of martyrs and victims of Assam agitation.
The sub-committee will be headed by the Implementation of Assam Accord minister Atul Bora. It will also consist of three ministers and five members from the All Assam Students' Union (AASU). State finance minister Ajanta Neog, parliamentary affairs minister Pijush Hazarika along with AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath, general secretary Sankar Jyoti Baruah, chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, and advisers Prakash Chandra Das and Uddip Jyoti Gogoi are part of the committee. Deputy secretary of the Implementation of Assam Accord Department Sujata Suchibrata also was appointed as the convener of the sub-committee.
The decision to form the committee was taken last month after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met members of the AASU.
The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long violent anti-foreigners movement which stated that names of all foreigners settling in Assam on or after March 25, 1971 be deleted from electoral rolls along with taking measures to deport them.
Successive state governments also formed a series of committees to implement the pact in letter and spirit but many clauses including the controversial Clause-6, remain unfulfilled.
Clause-6 of the Assam Accord states that constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
Clause 7 of the Assam Accord states, “The Government take(s) this opportunity to renew their commitment for the speedy all-round economic development of Assam, so as to improve the standard of living of the people. Special emphasis will be placed on education and science and technology through establishment of national institutions.”
The Clause 9 of the Assam accord seeks sealing of the international border, increasing patrolling on land and river routes, building adequate check posts to stop future infiltration and building a road along the border to facilitate patrolling by security forces.
"It will be ensured that relevant laws for prevention of encroachment of government lands in tribal belts and blocks are strictly enforced and unauthorized encroachers evicted as laid down under such laws," Clause 10 of the Accord states.
The High-Level Committee (HLC) constituted by the Union ministry of home affairs and headed by Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma submitted its report in February 2020 to then chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal for handing it over to Union home minister Amit Shah. However, the chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, ahead of the Assam assembly polls in February said the government cannot implement the recommendations of the HLC citing that they were far from ‘legal reality’.
