New Delhi/Agartala, July 26 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured the tribal leaders from the northeastern states to amicably address and resolve the issues of the tribals and the constitution of a committee for the same, Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma said.
Debbarma and many other tribal leaders from the northeastern states held a meeting with the Union Home Minister in New Delhi on Thursday and discussed several issues facing the tribals of the region.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, was also present in the meeting.
An official in Agartala said that Amit Shah also held a meeting with the representatives of 10 tribal autonomous district councils of the northeastern region on Wednesday in New Delhi.
Debbarma said that one of the major demands of the tribal representatives included passing of the long pending 125th Amendment Bill in the Parliament providing more constitutional power to the 10 tribal autonomous district councils, formed under the 6th schedule of the Constitution.
“The Home Minister has assured us that within a month, issues relating to all the 10 tribal autonomous district councils would be amicably addressed. A committee would be formed to solve the issues relating to our people,” he said.
Of the 10 tribal autonomous district councils, three each are in Assam, Mizoram, and Meghalaya, while one is in Tripura.
Since April 2021, the TMP has been governing the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which has jurisdiction over two-third of the state’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals.
It is the second most important constitutional body in the state after the Assembly.
The TMP has been demanding ‘Greater Tipraland’ or a separate state for the tribals under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
