Guwahati/Nagaon, Nov. 21: The much-awaited peace accord between the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) and the Centre will be signed on Friday in the presence of Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi in New Delhi.

“The Union government will sign the agreement with the UPDS in New Delhi on November 25. I am not aware about the nitty-gritties of the agreement,” Gogoi told reporters in Guwahati today.

The accord will be signed by joint secretary in the home ministry, Shambhu Singh, in the presence of UPDS chairman Longsodar Senar and its general secretary Horensing Bey. A 13-member political wing of the UPDS, in addition to four members of its “army,” will reach New Delhi on Thursday.

One of the key points in the accord is replacing the existing the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) with a new territorial entity to be known as Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) under the amended provisions of the Sixth Schedule.

The proposed council will have greater autonomy than the KAAC.

According to official sources, following the signing of the accord, Karbi Anglong district will be upgraded to an autonomous territory in accordance with the amended provisions of the Sixth Schedule, which will pave the way for devolution of more powers to the autonomous district authority.

There have been doubts whether the accord will usher in permanent peace in the trouble-torn district since the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) — a breakaway faction of the UPDS — will not be a signatory to the accord.

The UPDS was formed in 1999 with the merger of the erstwhile Karbi People’s Front (KPF) and Karbi National Volunteers (KNV). It entered into a ceasefire in 2002 and has been holding negotiations with the government since then.

“Talks will continue with the KLNLF also to arrive at a settlement with them. Efforts to bring the Paresh Barua faction of Ulfa to the negotiating table will also continue,” Gogoi said.

“We have heard about the announcement but we have not been officially intimated by the government so far. Anyway we wanted an earlier date and New Delhi has finally given us justice,” said UPDS joint secretary Tong-E-Nongloda.

In New Delhi, an UPDS leader said, “The new name will be Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) and it will get 44 elected and six nominated members and a total of 62 departments with legislative, executive and direct financial powers and planning, which will give us land rights,”

The People’s Alliance for Peace Agreement (PAPA) will hold weeklong celebration of the “signing of accord” throughout Karbi Anglong which will begin the day the UPDS leaders return.

The celebration includes a four-day tour of the district which will begin at Umpanai in Hamren and end at Kaziranga in Bokajan subdivision, a victory rally in the heart of district headquarters and a political convention where the outfit will be formally dissolved and a new political party will be floated.