Kokrajhar, Dec. 5: The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) has asked Dispur to deposit all the revenue collected under the 40 departments of the council in its coffers.
All the funds generated under these departments are now being deposited at the state exchequer, deputy chairman of the BTC Kampha Borgoyari told reporters at the council secretariat here today.
Altogether 40 departments were handed over to the BTC in October 2004 in accordance with the Bodo Accord signed in 2003 between New Delhi, Dispur and the now disbanded Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT).
“We want the revenue collected under the 40 departments, including excise, tea, forest and transport, to be deposited in the BTC exchequer as the council has been created under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,” Borgoyari said.
“There is no question of holding back the funds after the departments have been transferred,” he added.
Borgoyari said the issues had been raised and discussed during the review meeting on the implementation of Bodo Accord held in Dispur on Sunday. According to him, the Tarun Gogoi government assured the Bodo leaders that it would find out a suitable mechanism to transfer the revenue to the BTC coffers within 15 days.
The Bodo leader also expressed concern over the delay in posting senior officials in the BTC secretariat.
“The secretariat has only nine officials against a demand for 18 by the BTC. We have one principal secretary, one additional principal secretary, three secretaries, one joint secretary and three under-secretaries. We have demanded the posting of another four secretaries, six joint secretaries and six under- secretaries,” he said.
Expressing concern over the delay in the release of funds for projects under the non-lapsable central pool of resources, Borgoyari said the state government was yet to approve 13 of the 36 projects submitted by the BTC to the Centre.
He also expressed dissatisfaction over the non-receipt of Rs 219 crore released by the Centre to the state for the BTC under the non-lapsable central pool.
