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India Gazette
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Assam: BTC chief Pramod Boro envisions Viksit Bodoland on lines of Viksit Bharat ahead of council elections
Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 30 (ANI): Ahead of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections, BTC chief and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) President Pramod Boro said that in the line of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Viksit Bharat', they also want to make Bodoland as 'Viksit Bodoland'. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Pramod Boro said that the election in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is not for political power. 'Our party, UPPL, is coming into power with an agenda to develop the region, to protect our identity and culture, to promote our language and literature. It was the long-standing demand of the Bodo people for a separate territory since 1967, and in 1987 All Bodo Students' Union started agitation, and through this movement, BLT had started an armed revolutionary movement for some years. NDFB also fought for political rights, and an accord was signed in 2003 with BLT with the support of all Bodo nationalist organisations. Again in 2020, another accord was signed with the Bodo groups, the Union government and the state government. After the 2020 Accord, the Bodo region has become peaceful, and Bodo people are trying to achieve their goal through different activities,' Pramod Boro said. He further said, 'We are now waiting for the 125th amendment of the Constitution of India by which the sixth schedule will be strengthened. We don't have the financial power, but the region is a vast region. There are so many gaps in development, infrastructure, and socio-economic development. We need so much support, patronisation from the Government of India.' 'But that has not happened because of a lack of mandate and power in the council in the sixth schedule area. Not only Bodoland, but all sixth schedule councils of the North Eastern region,' Boro stated. Criticising the previous BPF council government led by Hagrama Mohilary, the BTC chief said that some political parties want only to come into power. 'We are going to contest in the upcoming elections of BTC to rebuild our society, regain our lost trust, and unity among different communities. This is very crucial for the people of Bodoland. Some political parties want to come into power. We are not thinking only of power, we are thinking of rebuilding our region, society, to achieve the targeted goal - goal for an advanced society, our dignity, identity and culture for which the Bodo people lost thousands of people, which we call martyrs of the Bodo movement. We have that commitment, politics is second, but first is how to build the society, how to regain whatever we lost and to develop our region,' Boro said. He also said that in the way of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Viksit Bharat, we must have access, we must have that opportunity to go ahead along with the mission and vision of the Government of India, the Government of Assam. The BTC chief said, 'So this election is very important for the people of the Bodoland region. We have the inherited legacy of a lack of policy in the government at the time of the Bodoland People's Front (BPF). There was a chaotic situation in the governance system. Now we have organised the entire government system, we have made a good, effective governance system, people-centric governance, and people-friendly governance started in the last 4 years. It was a big challenge for us as newcomers in politics and administration.' 'Earlier, there was no policy. I have gone through the budget speech of former Chief (BTC) Hagrama Mohilary of his 17-year rule in BTC. There was a total policy vacuum in his time. We organise every sector - education, health, agriculture, other economic activities, to regain the mutual trust, co-exist, to provide justice to each citizen, community, and to fulfil their aspirations at the council level, recognition of their culture, and to preserve their language. We have done lots of things,' the BTC Chief added. Boro further asserted, 'We have 36 flagship programmes in the council government, and we are trying to implement all the flagship programmes of the centre and state. We are trying to fill up the gaps and these kinds of initiatives are going on. Mainly, we are focusing on education, from Anganwadi, primary level to university level. We are trying to fill up all the vacant posts of teachers, train the teachers, career counselling programme for all students. In the last 4 years, we have started the Bodofa Super 50 Mission for medical, engineering, UPSC, and APSC students to provide them with coaching at no cost. We have also started the Bodofa Livelihood Mission, for which we are supporting lakhs of farmers, artisans, weavers, and unemployed youths. So that kinds of initiatives are going on.' The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections is likely to be held later this year. (ANI)
The Hindu
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Ahead of polls, Assam's Bodoland council launches land settlement mission
GUWAHATI A mission to secure land rights for 47,000 indigenous landless families was launched in the poll-bound Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) of Assam on Sunday. The BTR is governed by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which has 46 seats, including six for nominated members from unrepresented communities. The elections to the BTC are expected by October. 'Recognising the intrinsic link between land and human dignity, the present BTR government embarked upon a comprehensive reform agenda that is as visionary as it is practical. Today, we are ensuring land rights for every bona fide citizen of the BTR, irrespective of caste, community, or historical disadvantage,' Pramod Boro, the Chief Executive Member of the BTC, said after the launch of Mission Bwiswmuthi 2.0. Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya attended the event at Mushalpur, the headquarters of the Baksa district, about 105 km northwest of Guwahati. Baksa is one of the five districts of the BTR. Mission Bwiswmuthi entails 20 services, six more than what Mission Bwiswmuthi 1.0 offered when it was launched two years ago as a portal enabling the BTR residents to apply for various land and revenue-related services online. The services include settlement of various types of government land, professional grazing reserves and village grazing reserves to individual occupants; individual special cultivators (tea/rubber); and NGOs, self-help groups, and cooperative societies of special cultivators. 'The mission conforms to the amended provisions of Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, and the spirit of inclusion as envisioned in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2003,' Mr. Boro said. The BTC government received 1,90,000 applications for mutation, partition, reclassification, and conversion of land after it launched Mission Bwiswmuthi 1.0. Of these, 1,64,000 applications were disposed of in favour of the indigenous landless people, mainly living in the tribal blocks and belts. There are 47 designated tribal belts and blocks within the BTR. An additional 19 such areas lie outside its ambit. 'More than 47,000 landless families will directly benefit from the second edition of our flagship mission. They include some 9,000 small tea growers and rubber farmers,' Mr. Boro, also the president of the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), said. He called it a significant step before the end of his government's five-year term, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a developed India by 2047. Some 8,000 small tea gardens spread across 2,239.04 hectares stand to gain from the initiatives under Mission Bwiswmuthi 2.0. These gardens, a vital source of livelihood, collectively produce nearly 9,95,92,875 kg of green tea leaves annually. The UPPL heads the BTC's coalition government. Its partners are the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Gana Suraksha Party.
The Hindu
03-05-2025
- The Hindu
Elephant killers will be punished, says Assam tribal council chief
The chief of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Pramod Boro, has asked forest officials to track down and punish the killers of three elephants in the Manas National Park on Friday (May 2, 2025). The 500 sq. km. Manas, a transboundary protected area, is within the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), which the BTC governs. Forest guards found the carcasses of the elephants in the Palengshi Beat area of the park's Panbari Range close to the India-Bhutan border. 'We have taken this incident with utmost seriousness, and the officials have been directed to take all necessary steps to catch and punish the culprits. We will not tolerate any harm to our wildlife and will ensure strict action against those involved,' he told journalists on Saturday (May 3, 2025). He said the BTR saw a sharp decline in poaching over the past few years. Sustained efforts by the government led to the surrender of scores of poachers. He added that the former poachers and hunters were provided one-time financial aid to support alternative livelihoods. The government has also undertaken steps to reduce human-elephant conflicts and fast-track compensation for the families of people killed in such incidents. 'The declaration of the Raimona National Park and the Sikhna Jwhwlao National Park in the BTR was a part of our efforts to protect wildlife and preserve our natural resources,' Mr. Boro said. The poaching incident triggered outrage in the areas around the Manas National Park, where elephants are often revered despite frequent conflicts with humans. The local units of the All Assam Students' Union and the All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam have stepped up pressure on the BTR authorities to crack down on poachers and wildlife body parts traffickers. 2 wildlife traffickers caught On May 1, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel caught two wildlife traffickers at Ghewmari in western Assam's Dhubri district and recovered 202 common sand boas (Eryx johnii) from them. The two were identified as brothers Arif Mal and Talib Mal from North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. They were caught trying to smuggle the snakes in sacks across the border. The common sand boa, primarily found in southern India, is listed under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Believed to bring wealth and prosperity, this non-venomous snake is in high demand in the grey market. 'The large number of rescued snakes points to a wider trafficking syndicate. We have launched a comprehensive investigation to find the network's reach and connections,' an officer of the Forest department, which took custody of the common sand boas, said.
