First meet of committee on Assam Assembly seats reservation on Wednesday

The first meeting of a reconstituted high-level committee, set up to assess the quantum of seats to be reserved in the Assam Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people, will be held here on Wednesday, officials said.

The committee, headed by former Gauhati High Court judge Justice (retd) Biplab Kumar Sarma, was set up under Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord.

The first meeting of the committee will be held at North Block in the Home Ministry on Wednesday, an official said.

The committee will examine the effectiveness of actions taken since 1985 to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord and hold discussions with various stakeholders, including social organisations, legal and constitutional experts, eminent persons from the field of art, culture and literature, conservationists, economists, linguists and sociologists.

The new committee will recommend the appropriate level of reservations in employment under the government of Assam for the Assamese people and suggest any other measures as may be necessary to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social and linguistic identity and the heritage of the people.

The committee will submit its report within six months.

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; and Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary, AASU.

Joint Secretary (North East) in the Ministry of Home Affairs will be the member secretary.