Guwahati:

The Assam government held a crucial meeting on Wednesday with leaders of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) to discuss the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. The clause, which aims to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous communities of Assam, has remained unimplemented for decades.

The meeting was chaired by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who highlighted the key outcomes. 

Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister said, “Today, we engaged with AASU on the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. The Justice (Retd) Biplab Sarma committee had previously submitted a report on this matter, and today we analysed what recommendations can be implemented by the state government. Notably, these recommendations will not be implemented in the Barak Valley and areas under Schedule 6 without their consent. Additionally, we have requested the Centre to engage with AASU regarding the provisions under their jurisdiction.”

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution includes provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

AASU President Utpal Sarma, representing the student body, said the people of Assam have been demanding constitutional and legal protections for the past four decades.

“Today, there was a meeting with the Government of Assam, and we have agreed on the path forward. Out of the 67 recommendations, 39 fall under the state government, 12 are under the joint jurisdiction of the state and central governments, and 16 are under the central government. We have decided that the state government will implement its recommendations by next April, and an action plan will be developed in coordination with AASU,” he said.

“Regarding the 16 recommendations that fall under the Centre, we concluded that a tripartite discussion involving the state government, AASU, and the central government should take place,” he added.

The meeting marks a significant step in the ongoing efforts to address the long-standing demands of Assam’s indigenous communities, including that their cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage be protected, preserved and promoted. The implementation of these recommendations, particularly those under the state government, is set to begin by next April.

The Assam government and AASU are expected to collaborate closely on the action plan, while the proposed tripartite talks with the central government are seen as crucial for the successful implementation of the remaining recommendations. 

Chief Minister Sarma said the second meeting with AASU will be held on October 25, by which time the action plan will be drawn up. 

The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has pipelines up to Siliguri in northern West Bengal, from where diesel is piped to Parbatipur in northern Bangladesh.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

“The political upheaval in Bangladesh and anti-India sentiments have not affected operations in the neighbouring country,” an Assam-based public sector refinery and energy retailer claimed on Friday (August 30, 2024).

The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), based in eastern Assam’s Golaghat district, is a product of the Assam Accord of August 1985, which ended a violent six-year agitation seeking to eject “illegal immigrants” from the State.

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“There has been no impact of the situation in Bangladesh on the Indo-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline or our operations in the country. Rather, we are scaling up operations in northern Bangladesh from our Siliguri terminal and northeastern Bangladesh from terminals developed near (southern Assam’s) Silchar,” NRL’s Chairman R. Rath said. He is also the Chairman cum Managing Director of Oil India Limited, the largest shareholder of the refinery.

In March 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his former Bangladesh counterpart inaugurated the pipeline – the first cross-border energy supply line between the two countries – to transport 1 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh.

From its refinery, the NRL has pipelines up to Siliguri in northern West Bengal, from where diesel is piped to Parbatipur in northern Bangladesh. Before work on this pipeline started in 2018, NRL was marketing petroleum products in this part of Bangladesh — not easily accessible from the southern part of the country due to a network of rivers — since 2015.

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“The economy of northern Bangladesh is dependent on farm-based industries and the demand for diesel is highest during the winter months when the rivers run shallow,” NRL’s officials said.

The 6 MMTPA refinery’s plans to set up retail outlets in the western part of the geographically closer Myanmar, however, have been paused by the ongoing civil war in the country. The project was at an advanced stage of implementation when the conflict broke out in the country in February 2021.

“Some discussion is underway with Myanmar,” Dr. Rath said after the 31st annual general meeting during which the refinery declared a total dividend payout of ₹710.66 crore for 2023-24, representing 31.9% of NRL’s profit after tax for the fiscal.

He also said NRL’s first-of-its-kind bioethanol plant based on bamboo feedstock is expected to be commissioned within a month. This plant and a polypropylene plant are among the projects entailing an investment of more than ₹45,000 crore.