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KOKRAJHAR: Observing the non-implementation of clauses of BTR accord signed almost five years ago, the All Tribal Welfare Association (ATWA) on Saturday said the BTR accord should be a political agreement and not merely a law and order management accord. In a statement, the president of ATWA Janaklal Basumatary said the BTC accord signed in 2003 was a political arrangement but the BTR accord signed in 2020 seems to be merely an agreement to maintain law and order. He said the 6th schedule status of BTC accord had been demoted instead of giving more power and guarantees. He said there was already prayer to restore the provision of 6th schedule administration in a PIL case in the Gauhati High Court filed by the members of some frontal Bodo organizations and civil society and individual intellectuals as the BTR peace agreement destroyed the basic structure of the BTC 6th schedule (amendment )Act, 2003. He said there was a golden chance to get reviewed the working of the BTC sixth schedule (amendment) Act, 2003 and the BTR peace agreement. “The loss of basic structure of sixth schedule administration in the BTR peace agreement must be restored by deleting the anti sixth schedule provisions in BTR,” he said adding that the peace agreement with the NDFB should be political agreement not merely maintainance of law and order agreement. The convicted leaders must be treated as political prisoners and in honour of peace agreement the political prisoners must be released free by the grant of general amnesty of the presidential power, he added.
Basumatary said they had been asking amendment of article 280 of the constitution, the direct funding of finance commission for sixth schedule administration without getting constitutional mandate for BTR agreement, increasing of BTC constituencies to 60 from existing 40 seats without getting constitutional mandate for BTR agreement. He also said in the amended sixth schedule of BTC there were 40 constituencies, 30 seats reserved for ST, 5 seats reserved for general and 5 seats are open provided in the BTC sixth schedule (amendment) Act, 2003. “In absence of constitutional mandate the BTR agreement cannot provide this ratio of ST reservation and open seats. The agreement says ST reservation is made as per existing rate. It means the existing rate 10 pc ST reserve seats in general administration area is applicable in this case. Out of 20 additional seat BTC will get 2 ST reserve seats, rest 18 open seats without constitutional mandate of BTC,” he said, adding, “This should be stopped. He further said the Article 332(6) of the Indian Constitution which provides all legislative assembly constituencies in autonomous districts of sixth schedule administration area exclusively reserved for ST candidates was quietly amended for BTC sixth schedule administration area taking advantage of a clause in the MoS of BTC accord retaining the ratio of MLA seats between ST and general in BTC sixth schedule administration area for existing MLAs. The ratio of existing MLAs was 6 ST reserved and 6 general seats out of total 12 MLA seats in BTC at the time of BTC agreement. The amendment of article 332(6) was meant for the maintenance of this existing ratio for existing delimitation only. It did not mean for ratio of ST reserved and General seats for next delimitation of assembly constituency. But the amendment was manipulated and BTC was excluded from the benefit of all reserve assembly constituency for STs under Art. 332(2) of the Constitution of India, he added.
The ATWA president said politically the basic purpose of sixth schedule administration was defeated and this requires for review and needs for re-amendment of Article 332(6) of the Constitution of India. He said in last delimitation, BTC got 15 legislative assembly seats, out of this ST reserve seats were retained only in 6 constituencies whereas general seats provided 9 constituencies. This deprived BTC sixth schedule administration of the provision of all ST reserve MLA seats under Art. 332(6) due to this amendment. This needs to be corrected.
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