AGARTALA, Aug 24 - Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora has advocated the need of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Tripura to protect the rights of the indigenous people.
Addressing a rally to mark the Twipraland Statehood Demand Day at Khumulwng, headquarters of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in West Tripura on Thursday, the Assam minister appreciated the Centre for initiating steps to strengthen the tribal council constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
�It is good that the Centre has shown interest in the socio-economic and linguistic development of the indigenous people. But an NRC is needed for Tripura to safeguard the interests of the tribal people,� he said.
Bora said the indigenous people need proper protection, be it in government jobs or other sectors, and the Centre must take proper steps in this regard. The rally was organised by the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the ruling BJP Government in Tripura.
IPFT supremo and Revenue Minister NC Debbarma and party general secretary and Forest Minister Mever Kumar Jamatia also addressed the rally supporting an NRC in Tripura.
However, a BJP leader here asserted, �We do not support Twipraland or the demand for NRC. As per the party�s vision document, the State Government has already sent terms of reference for a proposed modality committee to look into aspects of the socio-economic and linguistic development of the indigenous people,� said the senior BJP functionary today.
