GUWAHATI, Sept 25 - The State government has formed a four-member commission for carrying out the delimitation exercise of the BTC constituencies.
�According to a clause of the Bodo Accord, villages with over 50 per cent Bodo population can apply for inclusion in the BTR and those with more than 50 per cent non-Bodo inhabitants can apply for exclusion. These villages will have to be in the peripheries of BTR. For this exercise we have constituted the four-member commission,� Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The commission will be headed by former Chief Secretary PP Verma and comprise present administrator of BTC IAS officer Rajesh Prasad, ABSU representative Jayanta Basumatary and Dalim Bayong who will represent the non-Bodo communities.
The commission will also give recommendations on increasing the number of seats in the BTC from 40 to 60 besides delimitation of the constituencies. The Verma commission has been given six months time to give its recommendations.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Sarma had a detailed discussion with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on implementation of the Bodo Accord at New Delhi on September 20.
Sarma also said work on declaration of Bodo language as additional official language of the State and formation of Bodo Kachari Welfare Council, as per the accord, for Bodos living outside BTR will also start within a month.
�We shall be taking measures for implementation of the accord in a phased manner,� he said, adding that the Governor has approved renaming of BTAD as BTR.
Sarma also indicated that elections for Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which were announced for April but had to be postponed due to the pandemic, are unlikely to take place before December. �From the health department, we have informed the State Election Commission that there can be no elections before November 30. Our team will observe how the Bihar State polls are held, and depending on that, we may take a call, but not before December,� he said.
The Chief Minister is scheduled to hold an all-party meeting over the poll issue soon and discuss the matter with all concerned, he added.
