After failing to get an appointment with Union home minister Amit Shah, the high-powered committee on implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord on Tuesday submitted the report in a sealed cover to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati.
Chief minister Sonowal received the report from committee’s chairperson and former Gauhati High Court judge Biplab Kumar Sarma in the presence of finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other ministers of his Cabinet.
Sonowal also felicitated the members of the panel before receiving the report.
All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) leaders Samujjal Bhattacharya, Dipanka Nath and Lurinjyoti Gogoi, who are also part of the panel, however, skipped the meeting.
Receiving report of the High Level committee for implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord in presence of fellow colleagues of Assam Council of Ministers in Guwahati as per direction of Hon'ble HM Shri @AmitShah ji. pic.twitter.com/4F1md2vaSL
— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) February 25, 2020
The Union home ministry had constituted the committee in July last year to recommend suggestions to implement Clause 6 of the Accord.
The Clause 6 envisages constitutional, legislative and administrative measures to protect and preserve the cultural, social, linguistic identity of the Assamese people.
The committee was given six months to submit its report, which was subsequently extended by a month.
The panel, which finalised the report on February 10, wrote three letters to the Union home ministry, intimating it about completion of the report but received no response from the ministry.
Chief minister Sonowal in a tweet said he received the report from the committee as per direction of home minister Amit Shah.
Finance minister Sarma said since the report has been submitted in a sealed cover, it would not be appropriate to talk on the content of the report.
“We will wait for the instruction from the home ministry, which will scrutinise the report,” Sarma told reporters.