Assam Sets up Bodoland Department – UPSC GS3

Assam Government sets up Bodoland Department for Faster Development of Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).

It will deal with the issues of four districts of BTR (Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri) as part of the 3rd Bodo Peace Accord.

3rd Bodo Peace Accord was a tripartite agreement signed in 2020 between the Centre, Assam Government and the banned Assam-based insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

It had renamed Bodo Territorial Areas District (BTAD), as BTR with more executive, administrative, legislative and financial powers.

BTAD was administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

It functions under the provision of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India

However, accord also said that a commission will be constituted by the central government for the demarcation and reorganisation of the BTR.

Bodoland is a state demanded by a tribal community called Bodos in Assam, who comprise of 5%-6% of the state’s population.

Demand for a separate state for Bodos is rooted in reasons like administrative and development apathy of the state of Assam, and a feeling that identity, culture and language of the Bodo people were subsumed by Assamese and migrants.