NEW DELHI: A high-level committee, appointed by Union home ministry and mandated with the task of suggesting ways for providing constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of Assam, met Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday.
A four-member delegation of the committee, headed by Justice (Retired) Biplab Kumar Sharma, met Shah for an hour and briefed him about the progress of its work.
Sharma said the minister had made a few suggestions. The committee is likely to submit its final report within a fortnight.
The committee, with more than a dozen members, was set up as per Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord, under which the Centre had promised to provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people.
The committee is tasked to assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in the state Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people. Asked if the panel had finalised the ‘definition’ of Assamese, Sharma said they were yet to take a decision on it and hoped to come to a conclusion soon.
“All members of the committee will soon meet to finalise the report and all remaining issues to be resolved,” he said.
The meeting bears significance as there is a growing feeling among the Assamese people that the CAA will hurt their interests.