NEW DELHI, Jan 10 – Delay on part of the Assam Government in adopting a Cabinet resolution clearing the creation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, stalled the BLT talks, even as the tripartite talks concluded on an inconclusive note here last evening. The 14th round of tripartite talks scheduled for two days was cut short and discussions were winded up last evening. The talks was held among representatives of Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), Assam Government and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). A two-paragraph press note issued by the MHA at the end of the one-day discussion, said the meeting yesterday decided to form a drafting sub-committee for preparing a set of proposals for consideration by the Centre and the Government of Assam through the tripartite negotiation team. The tripartite meeting took stock of the progress made towards an amicable resolution of the issues relating to the Bodo dominated areas of Assam. The participants hoped that a mutually acceptable socio-economic package will be shortly worked out following consultations both at the Central and the State levels and the concerned groups residing in the Bodo areas, the note said.
The talk was crucial in light of the ultimatum served by the BLT for signing of the agrement. Sources close to the BLT said they were disappointed with the outcome of the negotiations. The schedule for the next round of discussion has not been fixed. Sources said that in the absence of Assam Government’s resolution, there was very little to discuss and they would now await the resolution approving the creation of BTC before the next round of discussion. According to the Bodo leadership, the ball was now in the courts of the Central Government as much as Assam Government’s. They expressed the view that the Centre should expedite the process of concretising the concept of BTC. At the talks yesterday, both the Centre and the State Government maintained ambigious stands, sources revealed.
The Bodo leadership were informed, sources said, that the Central Government has requested the Assam Government to take a decision soon. The State Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, last night, was closeted at a meeting with top Home Ministry officials connected with the negotiations. The opposition for creation of the BTC by the non-Bodos living within the BAC areas and proposed division of Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari Darrang and Sonitpur districts seems to have weighed heavily in the mind of the State Government. According to proposals, the five districts are to be partially divested and part of its territories included within the proposed BTC. The proposed Council is to be divided into four districts including Kokrajhar district for administrative convenience. The four new districts are proposed to be created by bifurcating the six districts in lower Assam, sources said.
Meanwhile, the president and advisor of All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), Rabiram Narzary and UG Brahma respectively, said that talks should be taken along positive lines and the State Government should not linger the problem in the larger interest. Asserting that they were still waiting for a positive signal from the Assam Government, the leaders opined that the State Government should take decision before January 21. It may be recalled that the BLT has threatened that it would not be interested to go for another extension of the ceasefire whose term expires on January 21. The leaders expressed the view that it was a golden opportunity for the State Government to resolve the Bodo tangle as the leadership have staged a climbdown from their original demand for creation of a separate Bodoland State.
While the political part continued to marr the prospect of early signing of the Bodo agreement, the economic package worked out by the tripartite meeting has been favourably received by the Bodo leadership. According to the package, the Centre has reportedly agreed to release Rs 500 crore annually for the next 10 years as a development package for economic development of the BTC areas. The Centre is also to bear the expenditure of creation of four new districts, besides providing incentives for investments in the BTC areas, among other measures. The Bodo leadership have also demanded setting up of a Central University in Kokrajhar, besides medical, engineering and Agriculture colleges in the BTC areas.