Assam Governor approves renaming of 'BTAD' as 'BTR'; committee formed to restructure region

Guwahati: Assam Governor Jagadish Mukhi has officially given his approval for the renaming of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) -- comprising the four Bodo tribe dominated districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, and Udalguri. The region shall henceforth be known as the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in accordance with the tripartite treaty signed between Bodo organizations and the Centre on January 27, 2020.

In an Assam government order dated September 28, it was stated that the Governor of Assam has officially given his contest alter the name of Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) to Bodoland Territorial Region with "immediate effect."

In another significant development, the Governor of Assam has constituted a Commission under paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of Indian with representatives from the Government of India, Government of Assam, All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

According to the accord signed in January, the commission will scrutinize the villages around the BTR boundaries and will include those with over 50 per cent Bodo population and exclude those already inside if it has less than 50 percent Bodo population.

With elections just around the corner, Assam's finance, health, and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ina recent presser announced that the implementation of the historic is being fast-tracked by the government.

"We are expecting the recommendations from the commission in six months and then, within a month, we will start working on making Bodo language a state associate language, another of the demands," Sarma said.

The committee comprises retired bureaucrat P.P. Verma (Chairman), BTC administrator, ABSU Vice President Jayanta Basumatary, Dalim Bayan, the Convenor of the Red Cross in Udalguri, and the Joint Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political Department.

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