In a significant development, the Union home ministry on Tuesday reconstituted a high level committee to look into the implementation of the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
The decision was taken months after the earlier committee announced on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections could not function as most of the members refused to be part of it in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
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A notification issued by the home ministry said that the committee will examine the effectiveness of actions taken since 1985 to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
It will also hold discussions with various stakeholders including social organizations, legal and constitutional experts, eminent persons from the field of art, culture and literature, conservationists, economists, linguists and sociologists.
The notification said that the committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people.
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The Committee will also suggest measures to be taken to protect Assamese and other indigenous languages of Assam.
The Committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the Government of Assam for the Assamese people.
The Committee may suggest any other measures as may be necessary to protect, preserve and promote cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.
The notification further said that the Committee will submit its report within 6 months from the date of notification. The Committee will be serviced by the NE Division of MHA, Government of India. The State Government of Assam will provide necessary administrative and logistic support to the Committee.
The high-level committee will be headed by former Gauhati High Court judge Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma.
The members of the committee are Ramesh Borpatragohain, Advocate General, Assam, Niloy Dutta, Advocate General, Arunachal Pradesh, Subhash Das, IAS (retd), Pallav Bhattacharya, IPS (retd), Srishtidhar Dutta, professor (retd), Sumanta Chaliha, author, Jaikanta Sharma, professor and columnist, and Wasbir Hussain, senior journalist.
Other members are Samujjal Bhattacharya, chief adviser, All Assam Students Union (AASU), Dipanka Kumar Nath, president, AASU, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary, AASU. Joint Secretary (North East) in the Ministry of Home Affairs will be the member secretary.