Tripura House raises TTAADC seats to 50

AGARTALA: The Tripura assembly on Friday passed a resolution unanimously to increase the number of seats in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) from 30 to 50.
BJP legislator Arun Chandra Bhowmik had moved a private member resolution on Thursday seeking the raise for expediting development in the area considering its population growth, administrative expansion and development.Tribal welfare minister Mevar Kumar Jamatiya on Friday said in the assembly that the resolution is important because in the last 35 years no initiative was taken to elevate the status of the tribal council.
"The BJP-IPFT government has sent a proposal to the Centre seeking Rs 8,000 crore for development in the TTAADC. Apart from this, a medical college will be soon be set up at the TTAADC headquarters, two among 18 Eklavya-model residential schools have been sanctioned for the area and a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya will be opened at Simna," he added. Jamatiya said that the decision to elevate the status of TTAADC was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers held at the civil secretariat two months ago.
BJP MLA Sushanta Choudhury, supporting the motion, criticised the previous Left governments for neglecting the tribals. He said that when the TTAADC bill was tabled in Parliament in 1983, the then CPM MPs abstained from voting and hence development of the tribals in Tripura became slower than usual.
In January, the Union cabinet had approved amendment of Article 280 and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to empower ten autonomous district councils of Tripura, Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya following demands of more financial and administrative power to ADCs of the northeast.
Jamatiya said that about 68% of the total geographical area of Tripura falls under the Sixth Schedule spreading across over eight districts.
After the amendment, the finance commission was asked to recommend devolution of financial resources to the ADCs as well as village and urban local bodies that fall under the Sixth Schedule as it will help the tribal population of the region to fulfil their long-standing aspirations, Jamatia added.