ITSSA urges Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to fulfil his promises

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Indigenous Tribal Sahitya Sabha, Assam (ITSSA), a conglomeration of different tribal Sahitya Sabhas, on Friday urged upon Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to fulfill his promises announced on December 31 last year for the growth and development of language and literature of all indigenous communities of the State.

At least nine SahityaSabhas of ethnic tribes and three SahityaSabhas of indigenous communities sat together on Friday at Shakti Ashram in Kokrajhar district on the occasion of the 9th biennial death anniversary of literary icon of the Rajbongshis- KamtaRatnaAmbikaCharanChoudhury. The literary bodies discussed on common issues and problems of indigenous communities of Assam.

In a joint statement, they said that Chief Minister SarbanamdaSonowal had assured that the State Government would extend financial support of Rs 10 crore to AxamXahityaXabha, Rs. 5 crore to BodoSahityaSabha and Rs. 3 crore each to other SahityaSabhas of indigenous communities to develop their language and literature but the promise was yet to be fulfilled. They called upon Sonowal to release fund within December this year to carry out development activities on literature.

The leaders in the statement said the State Government also assured to extend financial incentives to writers to the tune of Rs. 50,000 to carry forward their activities and it was decided that any writer, who might or might not be a government employee, old or young and having at least one book published to his credit, would be eligible to get this opportunity under Assam BhasaGaurav scheme but the government had decided to change the criterion. They demanded that the financial support should be given to writers without changing the previous decision.

The ITSSA and three indigenous SahityaSabhas expressed resentment over the provocative comments of State Finance Minister Dr. HimantaBiswaSarma on tribal belts and blocks and his promise to distribute land pattas to all communities equally soon after coming to power in BTC. They said the divisive comments of a responsible minister were a matter of concern for the indigenous people who have been living together. They also called upon all political parties not to resort to violence in the ensuing BTC election and urged upon the district administration to ensure free and fair election.

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