Assam learns from Tripura how to run tribals' autonomous councils

By IANS,

Agartala : The Congress-led Assam government is learning from the Left Front government in Tripura how to effectively run autonomous district councils for the tribal people.

A five-member ministerial team led by Assam Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman is on a three-day visit to Tripura to study the functioning of the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which provides tribals constitutional rights to develop their socio-economic position.

"Various ethnic groups in Assam have demanded separate autonomous district councils, but since the tribals are scattered in the different areas it is becoming difficult to constitute autonomous bodies for them," Barman told journalists here Wednesday.

As per the 2001 census, 15.64 percent of the 20.33 million population in Assam is tribal. Prominent among them are the Bodo, Mising, Rabha, Sonowal, Lalung (Tiwa), Deori and Thengal (Mech).

The visiting Assam ministers said Tripura's tribal areas autonomous district councils are seen as role models in the country.

"We have learnt many things about the functioning of the TTAADC in Tripura and it would help us to constitute autonomous councils for the tribals in Assam," Barman said.

Tribal Welfare Minister Pramila Rani Bramha said that Assam currently has three ADCs under the Sixth Schedule of the constitution, but recently six other tribal groups had demanded separate ADCs under the same status.

The team visited several parts of Tripura in the past two days and held a series of meetings with Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and functionaries of the tribal autonomous district councils.

The region is also affected by militancy. According to a central home ministry report, 22 militant outfits are operating in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Mizoram demanding secession or autonomy for the tribals and indigenous people of the region.