GUWAHATI, Dec 27 - Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured a delegation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) that he would soon convene a tripartite meeting involving the Central and State Governments and BTC to review the implementation of the peace accord signed with four factions of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB).
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Chief Executive Member of the BTC, Pramod Boro said that a delegation of the BTC met the Home Minister and submitted a memorandum calling for expediting the process of implementation of the Accord signed on January 27 this year. The lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 pandemic had slowed down the process of implementation of the Accord. The Union Home Minister assured the BTC delegation that the Central and State Governments would expedite the process immediately after the proposed review meeting. Boro said that several key points of the Accord are yet to be implemented and that is why, they requested the Home Minister to take effective steps in this regard.
Boro said that they would celebrate the first anniversary of signing of the Accord in Kokrajhar and invited the Union Home Minister to attend the function as the chief guest. He said that successful implementation of the Accord would not only usher in development of the area but also act as a bridge between all the ethnic groups living in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
Boro also said that during the meeting, the BTC members requested the Home Minister to take steps to release NDFB (R) chief Ranjan Daimary and other leaders of the outfits from jail. �Daimary and other leaders of four factions of the NDFB have already abjured violence and returned to the mainstream. Daimary is also a signatory of the peace accord and he served several years of his jail term. The Government should examine the feasibility of waiving the remaining years of his jail term so that he can take part in implementation of the Accord,� he added.
Boro said that the nominated members of the BTC would take oath on December 29 and on the same day, the Council would try to pass the budget for the current financial year. As the BTC was put under the Governor�s Rule following the postponement of the elections due to COVID-19 pandemic, the full budget for the year could not be passed by the Council, which seriously affected development works. He said that immediately after passing the budget, implementation of all the development projects would be expedited.
Meanwhile, the United People�s Party Liberal is now a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Boro, who is the president of the UPPL, said that immediately after the declaration of the results of the BTC polls, his party formally wrote to the BJP expressing willingness to be a part of the NDA. �The BJP has accepted our request and the UPPL is now a part of the NDA. In fact, the Union Home Minister has already Twitted to inform that the UPPL is a part of the NDA,� he added.
