TTAADC to be elevated to 'Territorial Council' status:

The Tripura government has decided to elevate the status of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) into a 'Territorial Council' to provide more autonomy and financial grants to it, a state minister said on Wednesday.

The TTAADC comprises two-third of Tripura's territory and is home to the tribals who constitute a third of the state's estimated 40 lakh population.

Tripura Tribal welfare minister Mevar Kumar Jamatiya told a press conference here that the decision to elevate the status of TTAADC into a 'Territorial Council' was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers held at the civil secretariat on Friday last.

"The council of ministers took the decision to elevate the status from a district council to a territorial council. I congratulate our Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and all his cabinet colleagues for taking this historic decision," he said.

Jamatiya said with the upgradation of the tribal council the government has also decided to increase the seats in the tribal council from 30 to 50 and increase the number of departments under it from 17 to 43.

He said, on October 21 the state government had received a letter from Ministry of Home Affairs asking for the state governments recommendations for elevation of the tribal council.

The Tribal Welfare minister said the state government has also decided to change the present rural self governance system in line with the three-tier panchayat system to make it more effective.

"In the new system the village councils would be converted in the form of village panchayats, block councils like panchayat samitis and the territorial council would be equivalent to zilla parishad", Jamatiya said.

He said a parliamentary standing committee after judging our recommendations would send the proposals to the MHA and after that it would be placed in the parliament in the form of a bill for amendment.

"I think the tribals and non-tribals of the state would support this decision of the government. The indigenous people would enjoy more power and get more funds for the development of the backward community", he said.

The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Act 1979 was passed by Parliament after a series of democratic movements launched by the indigenous people of Tripura, under the provision of the 6th scheduled of the constitution.

The principal objective behind setting up the autonomous district council was to empower the indigenous people to govern themselves and also to bring all-round developments of the backward people to protect and preserve their culture, customs, and traditions.

The TTAADC came into being on January 15, 1982 and elected members were sworn-in on January 18, 1982. Later it was upgraded under the provision of the 6th schedule of the Constitution by the 49th constitution (Amendment) Act, 1984 with effect from April 1, 1985.

The opposition Congress in Tripura on November 16 had demanded that the TTAADC be elevated to a different council under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution so that it could get more autonomy and development for the tribals.