The Centre on Wednesday decided to set up a high-level committee to recommend how to provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the indigenous people of Assam promised in the Assam Accord of 1985, including by reserving seats in the State Assembly.
Detailing the Cabinet decision, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that a decision was also taken to implement the cultural heritage as promised in the Bodo Accord in 2003.
“The committee will hold discussions with all stakeholders and assess the required quantum of reservation of seats in the Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for Assamese people,” he said, while addressing the media along with Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba.
The Home Minister said the panel will also assess the requirement of measures to be taken to protect Assamese and other indigenous languages of the state, quantum of reservation in employment under the Government of Assam and other measures to protect, preserve and promote cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assamese people.
“It was a very significant decision for the promotion and protection of cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assamese people,” he said, adding that the terms of reference and composition of the committee will be announced within the next few days.
“The composition and terms of reference of the committee will be issued separately by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is expected that the setting up of the committee will pave the way for the implementation of the Assam Accord in letter and spirit and will help fulfil the longstanding expectations of the Assamese people,” Singh said.
The Union Cabinet also approved a number of measures to fulfil the outstanding issues related to the Bodo community that include establishment of a Bodo museum-cum-language and cultural study centre, modernisation of existing All India Radio station and Doordarshan kendra at Kokrajhar and naming a superfast train passing through Bodoland Territorial Administrative Districts (BTAD) as ARONAI Express. The Home Minister said relevant Central Ministries will take the required actions to implement these decisions.