Govt to implement 52 recommendations of Clause 6 panel of Assam Accord: Himanta

GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that his government will implement 52 recommendations of the Justice Biplab Sarma committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord to safeguard the interests of the indigenous people.

These recommendations of the panel will be implemented by April 15, he said.

The Clause 6 of the Assam Accord states that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards will be provided to protect cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

"The implementation of the committee's recommendations can be divided into three parts- 52 of which can be implemented directly by the state government, five jointly by the state and the central governments, while the rest comes within the purview of the Centre," Sarma said at a press conference here.

Notably, the state cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday, had decided to implement 57 of the 67 recommendations of the committee.

The cabinet had discussed in detail the various recommendations by the panel to protect and safeguard land, language and culture of the indigenous people of Assam.

Sarma also announced that the 52 recommendations are mostly safeguards related to the language and land rights of the indigenous people.

The recommendations also include the full implementation of the 1985 Assam Accord by drawing up a time-bound action plan without any further delay.

The state government had minutely analysed the recommendations of the committee, he said.

"Initially, we were focusing on how to address the complex issues but we have now decided to implement those that are within the purview of the state government," he said.

Sarma said that the group of ministers will discuss the matter with the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and other organisations every month and ''we will ensure that the recommendations are implemented by Bohag Bihu in April''.

The recommendations will be applicable only in the districts of the Brahmaputra Valley and not in the three districts of Barak Valley and the Sixth Schedule areas of Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).

Sarma pointed out that some recommendations, such as reservation of 80 per cent of seats for the Assamese in the legislative assembly, Lok Sabha, and panchayat elections, cannot be executed by the state government due to the diverse population in the Barak Valley and the Sixth Schedule areas.

''Consultations will be held with authorities concerned in the Barak Valley and the Sixth Schedule areas before deciding on whether it will be implemented there or not," Sarma added.

The state government will also take up seriously with the Centre to ensure the implementation of the remaining recommendations that fall within its purview and may require constitutional amendments, he said.

''The state government has already initiated measures beyond the recommendations of the committee to safeguard the interesta of the indigenous people," the Chief minister said.

The committee was set up in 2019 following widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the report was submitted to then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in 2020 for handing over to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 after a six-year-long violent anti-foreigner movement.

It stated, among other clauses, that names of all foreigners coming to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 would be detected and deleted from electoral rolls with steps taken to deport them.