Assam Assembly passes bill for the creation of 3 more Autonomous Councils

Guwahati: The Assam Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed three bills to create autonomous councils for the Moran, Motok, and Koch-Rajbongshi communities in the state.

The Moran Autonomous Council Bill, 2020, The Motok Autonomous Council Bill, 2020, and The Kamatapur Autonomous Council Bill, 2020 were tabled on March 24, the last day of the Budget Session this year.

Although the bills related to Moran and Matak were passed without a hitch, the opposition and one member of the BJP raised a fuss over the third bill and demanded that it be changed into the Koch-Rajbongshi Autonomous Council Bill, 2020.

AIUDF MLA Mamun Imdadul Haque Chawdhury contended that all the autonomous councils in Assam are named after the respective communities like Rabha-Hasong, Tiwa, Mising, Moran, Matak, but Kamatapur is a geographical area, which stretches up to Cooch Behar. THe said that 25 years down the line, it may face legal hurdles.

Congress MLA Abdur Rashid Mandal, weighing in on the issue, said of 69 lakh Koch-Rajbongshi people living in Assam, only three lakh are in Kamatapur as defined in the bill.

At the same time, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia advised creating a satellite council for the development of the Koch-Rajbongshis.

Another MLA, theBJP's Ashwini Ray Sarkar, urged the government to change the name to "Kamatapur Koch-Rajbongshi Autonomous Council" and include all the people of the community under it.

Congress legislator Wazed Ali Choudhury pointed out that there was a movement to create a separate state of Kamatapur from a portion of Assam and questioned if the council is a recognition of the Kamatapur state.

Chandan Brahma, Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Minister, seeking to reassure, said no community should feel threatened because of the creation of the Kamatapur Autonomous Council and that there is a need to create a Kamatapur council for the welfare of Koch-Rajbongshi people.

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