Assam Government announced its decision to include 60 new villages in BTR

Digital Desk: The Assam government announced on Thursday its decision to expand the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) area by embracing 60 villages from Sonitpur district. 

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was a chief guest at the 74th Republic Day celebrations here, announced that villages with 80% or more Bodo population will be included in the BTR "as part of its commitment to implement" the tripartite Bodo Accord signed in January 2020 for permanent peace in the Bodo belt.

Sonitpur district in north Assam is home to the 43 revenue villages and 17 forest villages that will be included in the BTR. 

Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, and Udalguri are currently part of the BTR. Sarma stated that the government had committed to expanding the BTR council's boundaries to include villages with a 100% Bodo majority, particularly in Gohpur. 

"The Bodo Accord is a watershed moment. "We are announcing today our intention to include the Bodo majority villages," he stated.

The third Bodo Accord was signed in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, then chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and cabinet minister Sarma by leaders of the four National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) factions, the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), then MHA joint secretary Satyendra Garg, and then Assam chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna. 

Assam is governed by the BJP, but the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is led by the BTR's partner, the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL).

However, a non-Bodo resident of Biswanath stated that no discussions with local stakeholders had taken place, implying that the government will need to persuade local stakeholders before carrying out its decision because boundary demarcation or rearrangement has remained a delicate topic. 

He requested anonymity and stated that the administration had previously merged Biswanath district with Sonitpur, and that they had now chosen to incorporate Bodo majority villages in BTR. 

Sarma took use of the opportunity to urge the militant Ulfa (I) to rejoin the mainstream while revealing that the state would conduct a "Health Services Utsav" aimed at bringing healthcare to the full route.

Under the policy, government officials will visit and evaluate qualitative parameters of government hospitals in line with the Gunotsav (an event to evaluate school performance), Sarma said, adding that the government was "duty-bound to crack down on practises such as child marriages," which Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a few days ago.