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Biplab Sarma Committee Report
Context:
After a meeting with representatives of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the Chief Minister of Assam initiated the process to implement 52 recommendations from the Justice Biplab Sarma Committee concerning Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.
More on News:
- This move comes over four years after the Centre-appointed high-level committee submitted its report in February 2020.
- However, 15 key recommendations requiring Constitutional amendments will not be implemented at this time, with the chief minister stating that these issues will be raised with the Centre at an appropriate forum.
Biplab Sarma Committee Report:
- It was the result of a 14-member panel formed by the Union Home Ministry in July 2019 to suggest ways to implement Clause 6 of the historic Assam Accord.
- The Assam Accord, signed in 1985 between the Rajiv Gandhi-led Union government and leaders of the Assam Movement, including the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), aimed to address concerns about the influx of Bangladeshi migrants into Assam.
- Clause 6 of the accord promised constitutional, legislative, and administrative safeguards to protect the cultural, social, and linguistic identity of the Assamese people.
- Chaired by retired Assam High Court Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma, the committee included judges, bureaucrats, writers, AASU leaders, and journalists.
- One of its primary tasks was to define “Assamese people” eligible for these safeguards.
- The report’s key recommendation defined “Assamese people” as Indigenous Tribals, Other Indigenous Communities of Assam, Indian citizens residing in Assam on or before January 1, 1951, and their descendants, and Indigenous Assamese.
- It also proposed reservations for Assamese people in Parliament, the State Assembly, local bodies, and public sector jobs.