Centre, Assam committed to constitutional safeguards for indigenous people: Rajnath

New Delhi/Guwahati, April 26 (IANS) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured a delegation of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) that the spirit of the Assam Accord would not be allowed to get diluted at any cost and the government is committed to provide Constitutional and economic safeguards to the indigenous people of the state.

The Union Minister said this on Wednesday while taking part in tripartite talks between the AASU delegation, the Assam government and the Central government. He said the Central government has been closely monitoring the implementation of the historic Accord.

"The Government of India and the Government of Assam are committed to a flawless NRC updation exercise in Assam and to provide Constitutional and economic safeguards to the indigenous people," said Singh.

The tripartite talks at the Home Ministerial level is being held after a gap of almost 12 years. It was participated by the Union Home Minister, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and representatives of All Assam Students' Union.

Singh said that a committee with representatives from the central government, Assam government and AASU will be formed to ensure time-bound implementation of all clauses of the Accord.

"All issues raised by AASU will be discussed in detail and implemented in a time-bound manner. We are also mulling the option for second line of defence along the border for strengthening border security and checking infiltration. Besides, erection of fencing along the Indo-Bangla border has already begun," Singh said. The Union Home Minister also said that construction work of the Bogibeel Bridge would be completed within December 2017.

"We have started a meaningful and good beginning to the implementation of Assam Accord. Today's talks have ended on a positive note, as we have discussed in detail clause-wise time bound implementation of the Accord for providing constitutional and economic safeguards to the people of Assam," Sonowal said after the meeting.

AASU Adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that all 60 proposals placed by AASU for clause-wise implementation of the Accord were discussed threadbare in the talks. He said that they discussed the issue of raising of a Special Task Force at district and state levels for detection of illegal immigrants. "A bilateral agreement between Governments of India and Bangladesh for deportation of illegal immigrants was also suggested by AASU in the discussions," Bhattacharyya said.