GUWAHATI, July 18 � A tripartite meeting involving the State and Central Governments and the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) will be held in the Assam Administrative Staff College here on July 20 to review the implementation of Clauses 6 and 7 of the Assam Accord.
AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that for years, the State and Central Governments remained silent on the implementation of these two vital clauses of the Accord for years and the last meeting on these clauses was held way back in 2005. He said that during a recent meeting with the Union Home Secretary, GK Pillai, the AASU raised the issue, following which the ensuing meeting has been convened. The meeting will be chaired by joint secretary (North East) of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Navin Verma.
Bhattacharya alleged that over the years, the State and Central governments did not pay due attention to these two vital clauses. As per the provisions of Clause 6 of the Accord, the Government should have provided special constitutional protection to the indigenous people of the State, while, under the provisions of clause 7, the Centre promised to take effective steps for all round economic development of Assam.
The AASU adviser lamented that till date, the Assam government has not been able to determine the definition of �Assamese people� for reservation of seats in Assembly, Parliament and local bodies. However, he said that apart from seat reservation, the AASU had submitted other proposals for constitutional protection of the indigenous people including right over land and natural resources, special Constitutional status for Assam, introduction of Inner Line Permit system, etc but so far nothing has been done on the proposals.
Bhattacharya said that under clause 7 of the Accord, the proposals submitted by the AASU included constitution of special economic and employment zones comprising the entire NE region, solution to the problems of flood and erosion, protection of the historical monuments etc. He said that though Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who chaired a tripartite meeting on implementation of the Accord in 2005, assured to declare flood as a national problem, the declaration remained on paper only. He said that the reports of the LC Jain committee and Shukla Commission are also yet to be implemented for ensuring all round economic development. He said that the AASU would raise all these issues in the ensuing tripartite meeting.
