030119-TH-10-New Panel to Protect Assam's Heritage

New panel to protect Assam’s heritage Cabinet recommends quota for indigenous communities

Special Correspondent New Delhi The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the set- ting up of a high-level committee for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Ac- cord which provides for con- stitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and pro- mote the cultural, social, lin- guistic identity and heritage Ministers Rajnath Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad during the of Assam. It also recom- Cabinet brieﬁng in New Delhi on Wednesday. * R.V. MOORTHY mended reserving Assembly seats for indigenous communities in the State. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had assured Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in May 2018 that a committee would be set up at the earliest in consulta- tion with the State government. “It has been felt that Clause 6 of the Assam Ac- cord has not been fully im- plemented even almost 35 years after the accord was DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD signed,” Mr. Rajnath Singh told a press conference on tion in employment,” Mr. seum-cum-language and Wednesday. “The commit- Singh said. cultural study centre, mo- tee will assess the require- The Cabinet approved dernisation of the existing ment of measures to be ta- several measures to fulﬁl the AIR station and Doordar- ken to protect Assamese and demands of the Bodo com- shan Kendra at Kokrajhar other indigenous languages munity. It approved the esta- and naming a superfast train and the quantum of reserva- blishment of a Bodo Mu- as Aronai Express.