Demand to provincialize non-provincialized Bodo medium schools, colleges outside BTAD

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The United Bodo People's Organization (UBPO) has demanded the Government of Assam to provincialize the non-provincialized Bodo medium schools and colleges outside BTAD as per Para 6.3 of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) of the 3rd Bodo Peace Accord, signed on January 27, 2020. The organization has remarked that the government should step forward in this context by granting even exemption to certain schools and colleges, if necessary, in view of the academic development of the entire Bodo community.

Regarding the demand, the UBPO has adopted a resolution in the delegates' session held during the 9th annual conference of the organization, conducted at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakhsetra at Panjabari in Guwahati with three-day long programmes from January 5 to January 7. Reportedly, the delegates' session, while holding detailed discussion over the Bodo medium education, termed the decision taken by the Government of Assam with regard to provincializing no more academic institutions of the State as 'unfortunate'. The delegates session also remarked that the appointing of teachers without adequate knowledge of the Bodo language in the Bodo medium schools was also a sign of 'neglect and injustice' to the language concerned.

In addition to this demand, the UBPO in the delegates' session took a slew of crucial resolutions by holding detailed discussion over several issues of the community. President Manuranjan Basumatary informed that during the delegates' session, UBPO had taken resolutions to pressurize the governments to grant hills tribe status to the Bodos living in the Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao district, to include the Bodo villages under Sonitpur and Biswanath district in BTR or Bodo-Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council (BKWAC) for the sake of development.

The UBPO delegates' session alleged that the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, also known as Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, on the part of the government had proceeded in a snail pace during the past years. As a result of it, the tribal people and the traditional forest dwellers of the State have been deprived of their land right. According to the Para 5.3 of the MoS of the 3rd Bodo Peace Accord, the Government of Assam has to grant land right to the scheduled tribes and traditional forest dwellers outside BTAD as per provisions of the said Act. Under such circumstances, the UBPO took a resolution in the delegates' session to demand the Government of Assam to enforce the Act perfectly at the earliest and not to evict any tribe of the state until and unless the Act is implemented.

The delegates session of the UBPO also adopted resolutions to demand the government to form the constituency of the BKWAC and to conduct its election, to release a fund of Rs 300 crore to the BKWAC and to increase in the per annum budgetary allocation (Assam Government's share) to the autonomous council concerned.

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