Congress Demands Elevation of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council for More Autonomy

Agartala: The opposition Congress in Tripura on Saturday demanded that the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) be elevated to a

different council under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution so that it could get more autonomy and development for the tribals.

The TTAADC comprises two-third of the Tripura's territory and is home to the tribals who constitute a third of the state's estimated 40 lakh population.

The central government recently invited proposals from political parties about how the tribal councils in the North Eastern region could be given more power and autonomy, state Congress convenor Subal Bhowmick said.

"The party has sent a written recommendation proposing to elevate the status of the present tribal council to a territorial council or autonomous state council," Bhowmick told a press conference here.

The recommendation has been sent to Congress MP Anand Sharma who is looking after the matter on behalf of the party, he said.

"We want direct funding to TTAADC and increase the allocation for development of the indigenous people. At present the fund is distributed to the council by the state

government," he said.

The Congress also put up a demand for increasing the number of members of the TTAADC from the present 30 to 60, of whom 56 would be elected directly and four would be nominated.

Currently, 28 are elected directly by people and two are nominated by the governor. "We demand inclusion of Kokborok the language of the tribals in Tripura in Roman script under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution," he said.

Bhowmick said elections to the TTAADC should be conducted by the Election Commission.