The Dhekijuli unit of All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) on Wednesday staged a 12-hour hunger strike at Dhekiajuli demanding inclusion of 489 non-panchayat villages under the Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 and protection of Tribal Belts and Blocks with eviction of illegal encroachers and ensuring land rights to the indigenous tribal people.
Demanding immediate steps, the ABSU said that if the Government does not take any initiative to bring these villages under Panchayati Raj system, the students’ body would boycott the Panchayat polls to be held in the State early next year.
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All the office-bearers of the Sonitpur district committee of ABSU participated in the hunger strike.
Urging the Government to address the long- pending issues faced by the Bodos, ABSU leader Laurence Islary said that though under Article 40 of Indian Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy directs formation of village panchayats for the self governance, in Sonitpur district, thousands of Bodos have been deprived of the system and the facilities under it.