Bhutan and BTC

Assam shares 267 km of international boundary with Bhutan, and almost the entire length is practically the northern boundary of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) map. This makes the role of the BTC administration in particular and the people residing in the border areas of BTC in general very important, especially in strengthening transboundary cooperation between the people of the two sides. Bhutan, the landlocked Himalayan kingdom, has close people-to-people relations with Assam, more so with what is now known as Bodoland. There are historical relations, as also cultural and economic relations between people in the Bhutan hills and the Assam/Bodoland plains. People on both sides share a lot of things in common. In present times, the economy of western Assam, and for that matter Bodoland, is closely interrelated with that of Bhutan. If Bhutan stops shopping in Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Tamulpur and Udalguri, the flow of cash to the people residing in these districts will dry up. Likewise, if Bhutan stops exporting to Assam, the Bhutanese people will suffer. Every rupee that a Bhutanese national spend while passing through the Bodoland districts, melts into the local economy and directly benefits the local population. This fact, however, is yet to be explained in simple terms to the common people of these districts. The responsibility lies with the Government of Assam in general and the BTC administration in particular. It is also for the intelligentsia and the elected representatives of BTC and Assam to shoulder some of the responsibility. For that, the elected representatives should first familiarize themselves and make them up-to-date on Bhutan-India relations in general and Bhutan-Assam relations in particular. Bhutan should also be included in the high school curriculum in Assam, as also in college and university curricula. Students of Economics must be told about the economy of Bhutan and the commonality of the economy of Bhutan and Assam. On Thursday, the Consul General of Bhutan in Guwahati visited the BTC Secretariat and held a meeting with high officials of the Council, during which one important issue was the "collection of taxes" by certain people from Bhutanese vehicles passing through the BTC districts. The BTC Chief and the Chief Minister of Assam should take serious note of this issue and take immediate and drastic steps against the culprits who collect "taxes" from the Bhutanese vehicles. This should be treated with top priority.