The government will sign a tripartite peace accord with eight Adivasi militant outfits from Assam on Thursday in Delhi, 10 years after the peace process started.

The rebel outfits signing the accord are Birsa Commando Force (BCF), Adivasi People’s Army (APA), All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam (ACMA) and Santhali Tiger Force (STF).

The remaining three outfits are splinter groups of the BCF, ACMA and the AANLA, formed during the ceasefire which was signed in 2012 when the Congress was in power at the Centre and in Assam.Though details of the accord have not been revealed, sources indicated the pact will include an Adivasi welfare and development council that will look after the community’s socio-economic needs, including those living in the tea gardens.

There is also a “commitment” to give ST status to the community in the accord, a key demand of the outfits. Sources said the pact included an “annual economic package of about Rs 200 crore for five years” for the development of the community which makes up for 10 per cent of the state’s population of around 3.25 crore.

A rehabilitation package for the members of the outfits, numbering around 1,500, including 1,200 who are getting stipends and living in five designated camps was also there in the pact.Thursday’s peace accord will be the third such deal between the Centre, state and the rebel outfits signed since 2020 to usher in durable peace in the state. The ULFA (Independent) is now the only old and active group which is out of the peace process along with a couple of recently formed groups.On January 27, 2020, the Bodo Accord deal was signed, involving four factions of the NDFB, for lasting peace in the Bodo belt.

This was followed by another tripartite pact on September 4, 2021, with four Karbi and one Kuki outfits to ensure peace in the Karbi Anglong region.BCF chief Bir Singh Munda told The Telegraph from Delhi that the deal will be a tripartite one involving the BJP-led Central and state governments and the eight Adivasi groups who have been struggling for the uplift of the community since the 1990s.

Munda, who himself was 21 when he joined the BCF, said an 80-member team of community representatives reached Delhi on Tuesday, including the 16 signatories, two from each group.“It has been a long journey. The signing ceremony will be held in the evening in presence of Union home minister Amit Shah and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. We are hoping it will lead to the development of the community. However, it must be said here that only the fructification of the ST status will ensure our constitutional right in the real sense of the term,” said Munda.

The signing of the accord will be followed by a dinner hosted by the chief minister for the entire Adivasi delegation, Munda said, thanking Prime minister Narendra Modi, Shah and Sarma for “their role in taking the peace process to its logical end”.

Chief minister Sarma had tweeted on Tuesday: “Held a meeting with rebel Adivasi groups, currently under ceasefire, regarding final settlement to be signed on 15 September 2022 in New Delhi in presence of Hon’ble Union HM Shri @AmitShahji. I’m sure signing of the agreement will usher in a new era of peace & harmony in Assam.”