Mishing Autonomous Council (Amendment) Bill, 2001 passed

GUWAHATI, February 24: The State Assembly yesterday passed the Mishing Autonomous Council (Amendment) Bill, 2001, which is a further amendment to Mishing Autonomous Council Act, 1995, by voice vote amid protest from members belonging to Bodo political parties. As per the amendment effected yesterday, the General Council shall consist of 40 members out of which 36 shall be directly elected and four shall be nominated by the government with the concurrence of Mishing Autonomous Council from amongst the groups of communities residing in the Council area and not otherwise represented in the General Council. Out of the 40 seats 20 seats shall be reserved for tribals belonging to Mishing Community and six seats shall be reserved for women of any community. The elected members of the General Council shall, at the first meeting to be convened by an officer authorised by the government, after the election for the purpose of constitution of the Executive Council, elect from amongst themselves by a secret ballot one of the members to be the Chairman of the meeting to conduct the proceeding where he shall also cast his vote and elect from amongst themselves in the manner : one Chairman, one Deputy Chairman, one Chief Executive Councillor of the Executive Council, one Deputy Chief Executive Councillor of the Executive Council and as many executive councillors as may be decided by the General Council, but not exceeding one-third of the total number of members of the General Council. Earlier, after the Minister for WPT and BC, Rekha Rani Das Boro, moved the Bill in the Assembly, Bodo legislators, including Promila Rani Brahma and Derhagra Mushahary, opposed the Amendment and demanded that the twenty seats in the General Council should be reserved for members from any tribal community residing in Mishing Autonomous Council area in place for members of only Mishing community. The AGP legislator, Dilip Kumar Saikia, while participating in the discussion, criticised the functioning of all the tribal councils in the State and alleged rampant corruption by officials manning the Councils. He called upon the State government to keep a tab on how the fund allocated to the Councils were utilised for the benefit of tribal people. The Assembly also passed Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (Amendment) Bill 2001 and Lalung (Tiwa) Autonomous Council Bill, 2001.