Assam Accord: Rights Over Land, Parliament Seats for Assamese Stressed 

HIGH-LEVEL COMMITTEE MEETING ON CLAUSE 6

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The high-level committee on the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord on Friday resolved to include exclusive right over land, reservation of seats in Parliament and jobs in the Central Government, PSUs, and other private organizations for Assamese, as new terms and reference of the committee.

The resolution was adopted during the second meeting of the high-level committee held at Assam Administrative Staff College at Khanapara here Friday. The meeting also resolved to send a proposal towards this end to the Union Home Ministry which reconstituted the high-level committee on July 16. The first meeting of the committee was held in New Delhi on July 24. It may be mentioned that the terms & reference of the MHA re-constituted high-level committee did not include exclusive right over land, reservation of seats in Parliament and jobs in the Central Government, PSUs, and other private organizations for Assamese.

Clause 6 of the historic Assam Accord states: “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”. After the Friday’s meeting, AASU chief advisor Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharjya told reporters that the committee will take each and everyone irrespective of caste, creed, and religion into confidence before taking any decision.

The Committee as per the terms & reference announced earlier will examine the effectiveness of actions taken since 1985 to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. It will hold discussions with various stakeholders including social organizations, legal and constitutional experts, eminent persons from the field of art, culture and literature, conservationists, economists, linguists, and sociologists.

The Committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people. It will also suggest measures to be taken to protect Assamese and other indigenous languages of Assam. The Committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the Government of Assam for the Assamese people. It may suggest any other measures as may be necessary to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. The Committee will submit its report within 6 months from the date of notification.

The high- level committee is being headed by justice Biplab Kumar Sarma, a former judge of Gauhati High Court as chairman. The members of the committee are Ramesh Borpatragohain, Advocate General, Assam , Niloy Dutta, Advocate General, Arunachal Pradesh, Subhash Das, IAS (Retd.), Pallav Bhattacharya, IPS (Retd.), Dr. Srishtidhar Dutta, Professor (Retd.), Sumanta Chaliha, author & columnist , Dr. Jaikanta Sharma, professor & columnist, Wasbir Hussain, senior journalist, Dr. Samujjal Bhattacharya, Chief Adviser of All Assam Student Union (AASU), Dipanka Kumar Nath, president of AASU, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of AASU and noted academician Mrinal Miri. The Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (NE) Satyendra Garg is the member secretary of the committee. The next meeting of the committee will be held on August 17.

Also Read: Assam Accord: Will Panel Provide A Consensus Definition On Assamese People?