Why in the News?

After a meeting with the All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma initiated the implementation of 52 recommendations from the Justice Biplab Sarma Committee regarding Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. This follows the committee's report finalized in February 2020. However, 15 key recommendations will not be implemented yet as they require Constitutional amendments. The state government has accepted 1951 as the “cut-off date” for the specific recommendations of the report.

Assam Accord

• It was a tripartite accord signed between the Government of India, State Government of Assam and the leaders of the Assam Movement.
• It was signed on 15^th August 1985 following a prolonged movement led by various organizations, including the All-Assam Students' Union (AASU), against illegal migration from Bangladesh.
• The Accord established 24^th March 1971, as the cut-off date for identifying illegal immigrants.
• Those who entered Assam before this date would be eligible for citizenship, while those who entered after would be considered illegal migrants.

Clause 6 of the Accord

• It was inserted to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the “Assamese people”.
• "Assamese people" - As agreed by most stakeholders, the NRC of 1951 was the basis for defining “Assamese people”.
• The current NRC update is based on March 24, 1971, which defines citizenship.
• If 1951 is accepted as the cutoff, it would imply that those who migrated between 1951 and 1971 would be Indian citizens.
• However, they would not be eligible for safeguards meant for “Assamese people”.
• The committee chaired by Biplab Kumar Sarma was constituted to define ‘Assamese People’ and institute safeguards for them.

Key Recommendations

• Land
  • Establish Revenue Circles for land ownership and possession limited to "Assamese people."
  • Launch a three-year program to allot land titles to "Assamese people" occupying land without documents.
  • Conduct a special survey of char areas to treat newly created chars (riverine regions along the Brahmaputra) as government land, prioritizing river erosion-affected individuals for allotment.
• Language
  • Maintain Assamese as the official language throughout the state, with provisions for local languages in certain regions.
  • Make it compulsory for all state government documents to be issued in Assamese and English.
  • Constitute an Autonomous Language and Literature Academy to promote indigenous languages.
  • Require Assamese to be a compulsory subject up to class VIII or X in English medium schools.
• Cultural heritage
  • Establish an autonomous authority for the development of sattras (neo-Vaishnavite monasteries).
  • Create multipurpose cultural complexes in each district to uplift the cultural heritage of all ethnic groups.
• Recommendations Left Out
  • Introduction of an Inner Line Permit for entry into Assam, similar to the ones in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Mizoram.
  • Creation of an Upper House (Legislative Council of Assam) exclusively reserved for "Assamese people."
  • Proposed 80-100% reservations for "Assamese people" in:
    • Parliament seats
    • State Assembly and local bodies
    • Government jobs
    • Vacancies in joint government-private sector undertakings (70-100% reservations).