Upgrade Tripura ADC: Congress

AGARTALA: Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) on Saturday demanded elevation of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC) to Tripura Territorial Council or Tripura Autonomous State Council.

The party has also demanded that the ADC be brought under the purview of paragraph 3A of the 6th schedule of the Constitution to avail of additional powers, such as others in the northeast, which is believed to be an attempt to win over the tribal mind.

Recently, the AICC leaders also held meetings with the INPT, to counter the BJP and its tribal ally IPFT. The IPFT has been fighting for a separate Tipraland.

IPFT, an ally of the BJP, is scheduled to hold a demonstration in Delhi on December 2 to press for their demand. The Congress and the INPT, however, called it an attempt to cheat innocent tribals.

In a memorandum to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitution (125th amendment bill), the chief convener of TPCC, Subal Bhowmik, said the amendment has to have the provision of direct funding to Tripura ADC for the empowerment of people living in the area.

He demanded doubling the strength of the ADC members, from the existing 28, and the inclusion of tribal dialect Kokborok in Ruman script into the eighth schedule of the Constitution. The party also strongly objected to the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 in its present form, saying it would make major changes to the demography.

"Considering the experiences of serious malpractice in the last local self-government under the ruling BJP, we demand holding the upcoming ADC elections under the direct supervision and administrative control of the Election Commission of India, to ensure free, fair, and transparent polling," Bhowmik said.

The memorandum also demanded implementing Articles 275 and 280 of the Constitution for economic development of the indigenous people of Tripura.