GUWAHATI, May 29 – More than six months have passed since the day the interim body of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) assumed office, but till date, the State Government has not been able to complete the process of transfer of departments to the Council. BTC spokesman Khampa Borgoyari, who is also an executive member of the Interim Council, told The Assam Tribune that as per the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between the Central and State Governments and the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT), the State Government would have to transfer 40 Departments and subjects to the Council and the process is yet to be completed. He said that the delay on the part of the State Government in posting of officers seriously affected the functioning of the BTC and till date, the State Government has not posted Deputy Commissioners in the districts of Chirang and Baska. However, he hoped that the State Government would be able to post officers in the newly-created districts within a week or so.
Borgoyari said that shortage of funds is another major constrain faced by the BTC. He revealed that the Assam Government has released about Rs 13 crore to run the BTC administration and the Council has taken up some development works with the money. He disclosed that the Education Department of the BTC has received Rs two crore of the amount released by the State Government and with that amount, the Council has taken up schemes to reconstruct the damaged buildings of the schools and colleges as most of the educational institutions in the BTC area are in very bad shape. The BTC spokesman said that though as per the MoS, the Central Government was to release infrastructure development grant of Rs 100 crore a year for five years, till date the BTC has not received any fund from the Centre and the proposals sent by the Council are pending with the Centre. He said that the Council has already started construction of a few important roads and repairing of the hospitals and health centres in the area in anticipation of the funds to be received from the Central Government.
The BTC is hopeful of the new Government at the Centre playing a positive role for the success of the Council. Borgoyari pointed out that as Government is a continuous process, the new Government at the Centre should keep the commitments of the previous Government. He also expressed the view that as a senior political leader of the North Eastern region PR Kyndiah has been given the charge of the Department for Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER), he knows the problems faced by the region and would be able to play a positive role for the all-round development of this backward part of the country. He hoped that Kyindiah would also be able to play a positive role for the development of the BTC area.
The BTC spokesman said that members of the Council are planning to meet the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, Human Resource Development Minister and the Minister in charge of DONER next month to apprise them of the developments in the BTC and to brief them on the steps need to be taken by the Central Government for the success of the BTC. As per the MOS, the election to the BTC should have been held within six months from the date of formation of the Interim Council but till date, even the process of holding of elections has not started. Borgoyari said that the BTC has written to the State Government thrice to start the process of holding the elections to the Council but the Government has not yet started the process of completing the formalities like delimitation of the constituencies to hold the polls. He said that the interim council is keen on holding polls on time and hoped that the State Government would take immediate steps in this regard.