GUWAHATI, May 10 – Three months have passed since the day the memorandum of settlement between the Central and State Governments and Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) was signed for setting up of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the provisions of amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, but till date even the interim council has not been formed and now it seems that even the formation of the interim body would be delayed till July.
Highly placed official sources admitted that bureaucratic red-tapism in various ministries of the Union Government delayed the preparation of the Bill for amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for creating the BTC and the Bill could be tabled only yesterday, the last day of the Budget session of the Parliament. Now the Bill will come up for consideration of the Parliament only in the monsoon session, scheduled for July. Sources pointed out that formation of the interim council without approval of the Bill by the Parliament would not be possible as it would not have any constitutional validity, while, an ordinance in this regard would not be a very feasible proposition. Sources revealed that the State Government cleared the draft proposals for amending the Sixth Schedule in the last part of March.
Interestingly, several key issues including inclusion of Bodo language in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India and ST (H) status to the Bodos living in the hill districts of the State did not figure in the Bill placed in the Parliament. Officials sources said that a draft Bill for inclusion of Bodo language in the 8th Schedule has already been prepared. But that Bill could not be cleared by the Union Cabinet in its last meeting. However, sources expressed the hope that the Bill would be placed in the Parliament in the monsoon session.
However, the issue of granting ST (H) status to the Bodos living in the hill districts has turned out to be a controversial issue due to strong opposition by several organisations and political parties of the hill districts. Even the State Government informally informed the Centre that the situation in the hill districts may deteriorate if the ST (H) status is given to the Bodos living in Karbi Anglong and NC Hills.
Sources pointed out that the State Cabinet had approved the draft accord before it was signed and “now a Cabinet Minister is opposing inclusion of Bodos of hill districts in the list of ST (H).” The anti-talk faction of the United Peoples Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) and other organisations are also strongly, opposing the same and apparently, the Centre decided to avoid the issue for the time being to avoid confrontation.
As per the Accord, the boundary of the BTC was scheduled to be finalised by a tripartite committee involving the Central and State governments and the BLT within three months from the date of signing of the Accord. But till date, the boundary has not been finalised. However, the State Government has written to the Delimitation Commission seeking permission for reorganising of the districts.