NEW DELHI, Sept 6 - With militancy showing no sign of abetting, Centre is exploring the possibility of sanctioning Arunachal Pradesh Government�s proposal for formation of Patkai Autonomous District Council covering the three sensitive districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh gave this assurance during a meeting of a delegation led by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki here today. The Chief Minister was accompanied by all the Ministers and MLAs of the three districts and MPs Mukut Mithi and Ninong Ering. Advisor to Union Home Minister Hare Krishna Paliwal was also present in the meeting.
The militants belonging to Paresh Barua faction of ULFA, Songbijit faction of NDFB and NSCN (K), besides other militant groups have set up bases in the three districts using them as transit route to Myanmar.
While highlighting the need for an Autonomous Council to further the development in these sensitive insurgency affected districts, the Chief Minister gave a historical overview of the demand for Patkai Autonomous District Council. He emphasised that this has been a long-standing demand of the people of the State, particularly the people of these three districts who have been affected by insurgency leading to poor socio-economic conditions and lack of development.
The Chief Minister highlighted that this area in the easternmost corner of Arunachal Pradesh requires a special focus to overcome the development bottlenecks and mentioned that a special administrative structure in the form of an Autonomous Council would greatly help in addressing the challenges of development and governance.
The demand for formation of Patkai Autonomous Council was passed by the Assembly in 2004 and 2007 and the Cabinet approved it in 2013.
The proposal was then sent to the Union Home Ministry and a committee headed by joint Secretary (NE), Ministry of Home Affairs was constituted by the UPA Government. The Committee had visited the three districts in February, 2014. Since then, there has been no communication from the Home Ministry.
