The Centre on Monday gave its stamp of approval to the Bodo Liberation Tigers' demand for an autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council comprising 3082 villages and areas within Assam, Ministry of Home Affairs Special Secretary R C Jain said in New Delhi.
Following tripartite talks between the Centre, Assam government and the BLT, an agreement was signed in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, he said.
The BTC will have constitutional protection under the Sixth Schedule to fulfil the economic, educational and linguistic aspirations and sociocultural and ethnic identity of the Bodos, Jain said.
The 3082 villages identified for the proposed BTC will be divided into four contiguous districts after reorganisation of the existing districts of Assam within six months of the signing of the agreement subject to clearance of the delimitation commission, the special secretary said.
A committee comprising one representative each from the Centre, Assam and the BLT will decide whether to include 95 more villages in the BTC on the basis of the tribal population [at least 50 per cent] there, he added.
Adequate safeguards have been built into the agreement to ensure that non-tribals within the BTC do not suffer, he said.
The BTC will have 46 members out of whom 40 will be elected and the remaining nominated by the Assam governor. Out of the 40 seats, 30 will be for tribals, five for non-tribals and 'five open to all', he added.
According to Jain, the government will consider including the Bodo language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Besides, a centrally funded institute of technology, which will be upgraded to a university, will also be set up.
The Centre will also consider the demand of the Bodo Kacharis living within the jurisdiction of the Karbi Anglong district area for ST (Hills) status, Jain added.
