The report of a ministry of home affairs-constituted committee to secure the future of the indigenous people of Assam is back in the spotlight with the state government on Wednesday night decided to implement 57 of the panel’s 67 recommendations within April 15, 2025.

The report was put on the back burner in 2020.

However, a key member of the 13-member committee, headed by Justice (retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma on the implementation of Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord, is not enthused.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the then general secretary of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), told The Telegraph on Thursday that unless and until the MHA, the nodal agency dealing with the committee, formally accepts the report and announces the time-bound implementation of the recommendations, the Assam government’s “approval or decision holds little meaning”.

The Sharma panel was formed on July 16, 2019, in the wake of the anti-CAA protest that had rocked Assam. The panel’s report was submitted to former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati on February 20, 2020.

The report was practically put in cold storage despite the central leaders’ assurance to implement it in toto especially to douse the fire ignited by the anti-CAA protests in which five persons lost their lives, sources said.

Announcing the decision after a cabinet meeting in Lakhimpur, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said 57 of the 67 recommendations of the Sharma Committee were approved after “threadbare discussions” by the state cabinet.

“For the remaining 10 recommendations, in-depth discussions will be held with the Govt of India,” he said.

Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord provides for “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”

The recommendations, Sarma said, will be applicable across the state except Sixth Schedule areas and Barak Valley. In these places, the recommendations will be executed “only after concurrence of the authorities and the people in these regions”. Sixth Schedule and Barak Valley areas are mostly inhabited by tribal and Bengali-speaking people respectively.

The cabinet has also decided to constitute a Group of Ministers, “which will engage with the AASU and other organisations to develop a clear roadmap and implementation framework” to implement the recommendations by April 15, 2025, Sarma said, adding the Committee had “given us three years time to examine the report”.

Key recommendations of the Sarma panel included 1951 as the cut-off date to determine who is indigenous to the state for availing the safeguards recommended under Clause 6; reserving two/third seats in the state assembly and Lok Sabha for the indigenous people. It also recommended creating an Upper House for the indigenous people; introducing the inner line permit (ILP) to check entry of outsiders and reserving 80 per cent jobs for the indigenous people.

The above recommendations, Gogoi said, were crucial if the government wants to safeguard the future of the indigenous Assamese people but for these the Centre’s support and intervention was needed.

“The government should convince the Centre to act on the recommendations. It is already late. The Assam Accord was signed 39 years ago and the BJP has been in power in the state since 2016!” Gogoi, who is now president of the regional party, the AJP, said.

The Clause 6 report was flagged by the Opposition following the recent outbreak of unrest in neighbouring Bangladesh and the anti-Miya campaign in Sivasagar.

The Bangladesh unrest triggered fears of fresh influx and fresh pressure on the state’s scarce land resources. Indigenous organisations also stepped up their demand for protection of the indigenous people from illegal settlers in the wake of the “gangrape” of a minor in the Nagaon district by ensuring land can’t be bought by illegal settlers.