GUWAHATI, Jan 7 - The Committee to suggest measures for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord is planning to submit its report to the Government of India within this month. The Committee has already completed the process of taking the views of cross sections of people and it is in the final stage of preparing the report.
In Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, the Government promised to provide Constitutional safeguards to �Assamese people� and the Government of India constituted a committee headed by Retired Judge of the Gauhati High Court, Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma to suggest measures to be taken for implementation of the clause.
Official sources told The Assam Tribune that the committee got very good response from different stakeholders and cross sections of people. The committee sought suggestions from different organizations and individuals and more than a thousand individuals and organizations submitted petitions. �The members of the committee went through all the petitions meticulously and called some of the persons and organizations for discussions on the basis of the petitions,� sources added. In addition to that, the committee also sought suggestions from the prominent citizens and �the response was very positive as they came to meet committee members and gave their views.�
Sources said that views of political parties were also sought. Interestingly, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) refrained from giving its views. The Congress also did not submit any clear cut opinion on the crucial issue concerning the people of the State.
Members of the committee also visited different parts of the State including Kokrajhar, Silchar, Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Diphu, Haflong etc to meet cross sections of people and organizations to obtain their views as implementation of clause 6 of the Assam Accord is crucial for the future of the indigenous people of Assam.
Though sources refused to divulge the details of the views expressed by the people, they admitted that most people stressed the need for reservation of seats in Assembly, Parliament etc for indigenous people and there have also been demands for implementation of the Inner Line Permit system in the state.
It may be mentioned here that during the Parliament debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the Union Home Minister had assured that the recommendations of the committee would be implemented by the Government of India.
