Govt Cannot Implement Recommendations on Clause 6 of Assam Accord: Himanata Biswa

GUWAHATI: Assam state finance and health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the government cannot implement the recommendations of the central panel on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord as the same is "far from legal reality".

"The recommendations given by the committee are far from the legal reality of this land.... How can we implement them?" said Himanata Biswa.

The recommendations go against many Supreme Court judgements, the minister said at the launch of his book, "Eta Saponar Pom Khedi (Chasing a dream)", comprising 25 of his speeches.

Notably, the Apex court had ordered that reservations cannot exceed 50 per cent, but the panel's report suggested more than that, he added.

"Why did the committee not consider Supreme Court judgements? I think those were not recommendations, but their (panel's) expectations only," the BJP leader said.

Earlier on February 25, 2020, the central panel on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord submitted the report to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for handing it over to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and from then this is the first time a senior minister spoke about the recommendations of the report.

As per the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

For the implementation of Clause-6 of the historic Assam Accord, the Union Home Ministry (MHA) constituted the high-level committee on July 15, 2019.

The Clause-6 of the Assam Accord envisages Constitutional, legislative and administrative measures to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

Earlier, talking to The Sentinel, one of the members of the high-level committee on Clause-VI and general secretary of AASU (All Assam Students Union), Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, "The State government must immediately form the committee of legal experts. Already much valuable time has been wasted since the submission of the report."

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