LAKHIMPUR: “The Government of Assam led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned to weaken the Bodo medium schools. This government has adopted various tricks to destroy them.”
This allegation was made by Ex-BLT Welfare Society Coordination Committee outside BTC. Regarding the allegation, the general secretary of the Ex-BLT Welfare Society Coordination Committee, Bistiram Narzary addressed a press conference convened at the Dhemaji district office of the United Bodo People’s Organization (UBPO) on Tuesday. Addressing the media persons, Bistiram Narzary spewed venom against the incumbent Government of Assam regarding its alleged lackadaisical attitude towards the implementation of the Third BTR Accord.
“The government has no goodwill to implement the clauses of the Third BTR Accord which was inked as the outcome of the prolonged Bodo movement, inked among the governments at the Centre and in the State, ABSU, four factions of the NDFB and UBPO on January 27, 2020. The government has initiated no effective initiatives for determination of the Bodo villages and delimitation of the constituencies of the Bodo-Kachari Welfare Autonomous Council (BKWAC) which was formed as per Para 5.1 of the accord. The government has initiated no step to conduct the election of the BKWAC too,” Narzary said On the other hand, the general secretary of the Ex-BLT Welfare Coordination Committee outside BTC expressed vehement resentment over government’s apathy with regard to provincializing the non-provincialized Bodo medium schools outside BTC and appointing Bodo language lectures in the colleges.
“As per Para .6.3 of the Third BTR Accord, Government of Assam has to initiate measures to provincialize the Bodo medium schools outside BTAD, as per special need and requirement. The State Government has also to take measures to appoint lecturers in Bodo Departments in colleges outside BTAD as a special consideration. But without taking any step in this connection, the State Government has appointed teachers without having knowledge of Bodo language in the Bodo medium schools outside BTAD. Moreover, the State Government, by going against the National Education Policy-2020, decided to teach science and mathematics in English in all government schools from Class VI instead of the present practice of teaching them in mother languages. Thus, the government is hatching a conspiracy to destroy the Bodo language and other mother languages,”Bistiram Narzary alleged, adding that the government could not manage to supply textbooks to the Bodo medium schools outside BTAD, though the current academic session is about to end. As per his allegation, the government has ruined the future of the students in Bodo medium schools by appointing non-Bodo teachers in the same.
“It is a matter of serious concern that the government has thus posed obstacles before the development and flourishing of the academics in Bodo language,”Bistiram Narzary added.
In the same press conference, Narzary reiterated the demand to allot adequate amount of fund to the BKWAC to ensure all-round development of the Bodo people living in 19 districts of the State outside BTAD, including parts of Barak valley. He said that development is not possible with a meager amount of Rs. 13.50 crore allotted to the BKWAC per year
“There is no substitute for the Bodo people living outside BTAD for the withdrawal of support to the ruling party if each and every clause of the BTR Accord is not implemented in letter and spirit at the earliest,”Bistiram Narzary reiterated.
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