60 More Villages of Assam to be Added to BTR

GUWAHATI: Speaking on the occasion of the 74th Republic Day, the Chief Minister of Assam announced on Thursday that the Bodoland Territorial Region will be getting 60 new villages. According to government records, these villages have more than 80% Bodo population.

"As part of promises made in the Bodo peace deal signed in January 2020, our government has decided to include villages which have at least 80% Bodo population in the BTR," said the Chief Minister.

These 60 villages that are to be added to the Bodoland Territorial Region include 43 revenue villages and 13 forest villages. They are spread across the Dhekiajuli, Sootea, Behali and Gohpur regions of the state.

The Bodo Accord was signed between the Central Government as well as the fractions of the militant outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland allowed for the addition of all villages near the recognised BTR region with a majority of people belonging to the Bodo community, to be added into the region.

Himanta Biswa Sarma also announced an ex-gratia amounting to Rs 5 lakhs to the families of each of the 2001 martyrs who lost their lives in the Bodoland agitation. He also announced that from now on March 31 will be celebrated as Students' Day in the state of Assam in memory of Upendranath Brahma, popularly known as the Father of the Bodos.

The Chief Executive Member of the Bodoland Territorial Council, Pramod Bodo took to Twitter to thank Himanta Biswa Sarma on the occasion. He tweeted, "Thank you CM Sarma for your gifts to BTR in the form of implementation of the clauses of the BTR peace accord on this Republic Day."

The CM also spoke about his goal to stop child marriages in the state during his speech. He also mentioned that peace with ULFA (I) is the last step to be crossed in order to ensure that Assam has long-lasting peace which is the ultimate need for the all-round development of the region.

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