SHILLONG, SEP 26: The state government has assured to aggressively pursue the passage of the 125th Constitutional Amendment Bill with the Centre, a crucial step towards fully implementating of the Agreed Text for Settlement signed with the disbanded Garo militant outfits, Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) and its breakaway faction, ANVC.B in 2014.
The assurance was made during a meeting chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong on Friday.
The meeting was held in presence of chief secretary DP Wahlang, DGP I Nongrang, senior government officers and members of the ANVC and ANVC.B.
Addressing media persons after the meeting, Tynsong stated that 50-60% of the agreement’s aspirations have already been met.
According to him, the implementation of the agreement is pending due to the need for the 125th amendment to the Constitution of India, which is currently under consideration in the parliament.
“This lies with the government of India as well as in the parliament as they have already introduced in Rajya Sabha and then Rajya Sabha has referred to the parliamentary standing committee (PSC) and recently the PSC has already recommended to the MHA, so it is pending there. So, we will pursue aggressively that the amendment should be passed by the parliament,” he said while adding “We have hurdles (to fully implement the agreement) because until the amendment is passed because it links to the constitution of India.
Since additional subjects needs to be transferred to the ADCs, this has to be amended in the parliament.”
Tynsong also announced the government’s decision to appoint a dedicated nodal officer to coordinate between the government, ANVC & ANVC.B, and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) to facilitate the implementation of the agreement.
“The nodal officer will play a crucial role in ensuring that the agreement is implemented clause by clause and point by point, and will meet with ANVC & ANVC.B members regularly at Tura.”
He informed that the meeting discussed various developmental projects, including road construction, forest preservation, and cultural initiatives, such as auditoriums, libraries, and cultural centers.
“The members of the ANVC and ANVC.B still of course few areas they are still not satisfied but in the meeting today, we have decided that we will closely monitor and see that those subjects mentioned in the Agreed Text for Settlement has to fully complied by the state government,” Tynsong stated while informing that funds for implementing the Garo Accord will partly come from the Centre and partly from the State government.
The deputy chief minister also claimed that the government has cleared the surrender package for over 500 ANVC and ANVC.B members, with each member entitled to Rs 1.50 lakh and a monthly stipend of Rs 3,500 for six months.
According to him, there is no attempt of regrouping in Garo Hills.
“The Agreed Text Agreement is 95% more or less is about development. With development, I am very sure this kind of thinking will no longer will be there,” Tynsong stated.
Further, the deputy chief minister said that the government has assured that meetings will be held regularly, at least quarterly, to monitor progress and address outstanding issues.
Asked, Tynsong said, “We discussed alot about the district council. The Text Agreed Settlement says that the government should further strengthen the ADCs and the ADCs should again have more responsibilities in preserving the indigenous people and not only that even the function of the ADC should further be strengthened. Therefore, it links to the amendment of the Sixth Schedule.”
“Once the amendment is made then only we will be able to further proceed forward in meeting those aspirations reflected in the Text Agreed Settlement,” he assured.
By Our Reporter
