GUWAHATI, Dec 9 ? After the initial euphoria of formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) dies down, the Bodo leaders, particularly those at the helm of affairs of the interim council, will have to pull up their socks to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people. The interim council members headed by former Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) chairman Hagrama Mohilary (Basumatary) took oath in front of a mammoth gathering in presence of Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani on December 7 at Debargaon near Kokrajhar town and the expectations from the people are too high as was evident from the overwhelming response from the people of the area, particularly those from the Bodo community. But they would have to remember the fact that the after the signing of the Bodo accord in 1993, a similar victory rally organised at the same field was attended by a huge crowd and the euphoria died down within months. Now it is up to the Bodo leadership to prevent history from repeating itself. However, there are differences between the Bodo accords signed in 1993 and 2003 as the latest accord has the stamp of approval of the Constitution of India and the BTC has been formed under the provisions of the amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
One of the major tasks before the erstwhile BLT leaders, who have taken over the reigns of the BTC is to rehabilitate the 2641 cadres of the outfit who laid down their arms on December 7. Hagrama Mohilary said that none of the BLT cadres joined the outfit for personal gains and ?they joined the outfit for the development of the Bodo society.? He admitted that there is apprehension of attacks from the rival militant outfit National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) and it is the duty of the Government to ensure security to all of them. He, however, said that the BTC would try to provide employment opportunities for the BLT cadres. Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said that the Central and the State governments would take steps to provide employment opportunities to the erstwhile BLT cadres who laid down arms to come back to the national mainstream. But he did not specify any rehabilitation package.
Member of Parliament UG Brahma admitted that rehabilitation of the BLT cadres would be a major task for the BTC. He said that after the BLT is dissolved, someone would have to take responsibility of the security to life of the cadres and to provide them with financial security. He said that if the BLT cadres are not provided with employment opportunities , it may result in a different kind of problem in the days to come, and suggested that the Central and State governments, in collaboration with the BTC must formulate a special rehabilitation package for them. He pointed out that not necessarily the BLT cadres would have to be provided with Government jobs, but they can be rehabilitated by forming non-government organisations and self-help Groups. He also called upon the Deputy Prime Minister to formulate a special rehabilitation package for the BLT cadres.
The new BTC chief said that his priorities would include implementation of all the clauses of the accord singed between the Central and State governments and restoration of peace in the BTC area. He revealed that the BTC would give stress on key sectors like communication, education, health and employment. It may be mentioned here that road communication in the BTC area needs immediate attention, while the education facilities can hardly be termed adequate with no major educational institution in the area apart from the Kokrajhar campus of the Gauhati University. The Deputy Prime Minister, while addressing the meeting on the occasion of swearing-in ceremony of the interim BTC members, announced the Central Government?s decision to set up a hundred-bed hospital and a nursing college in the BTC area and assured that the Centre would provide adequate funds for the development of the area. Official sources said that the Central Government would provide infrastructure development funds to the BTC against specific projects and the BTC would have to take immediate steps to send specific and viable projects to the Centre to get funds.
However, lack of administrative experience of the interim BTC members may turn out to be a major hitch as they cannot wait to gain experience till the patience of the people, who are expecting too much, runs out. The sincerity of the BTC members will also be tested and LK Advani sounded a note of warning when he said that there would be no dearth of funds for development of the BTC area but it would be the responsibility of the BTC members to properly utilise the funds to be made available with all sincerity.