The Assam government and the All Assam Students Union have agreed to implement 38 out of the 52 recommendations relating to Clause 6 of the 1985 Assam Accord made by a high-level committee, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday.

The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 between the Union government and the leaders of the Assam Movement, which was launched in 1979 to identify and deport undocumented immigrants. The All Assam Students Union was among the groups leading the movement.

The Accord aimed to satisfy the demands of Assamese nationalists who claimed that the land, culture and political rights of the “indigenous” people of the state were under threat from “foreigners”.

Clause 6 of the Accord states that the government must enact constitutional, legislative and administrative measures to protect, preserve and promote the “cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”.

In 2019, the Union home ministry set up a 14-member committee headed by retired Justice Biplab Sarma to implement Clause 6 of the Accord as there was no consensus on the legal definition of “Assamese people”.

The 52 recommendations are those that come under the purview of the state government.

On Sunday, the chief minister said that the 38 recommendations will be implemented within a timeframe through provisions in the upcoming state Budget, and future legislations and ordinances.

Sarma said that further negotiations with the All Assam Students Union on the remaining 14 committee recommendations will take place in March and April.

The accepted recommendations include making Assamese a mandatory subject in all schools in the Brahmaputra Valley, and Assamese and Bodo in schools in the Bodoland Territorial Region, the Hindustan Times quoted Sarma as saying.

The Bodoland Territorial Region is an autonomous division in the state.

Additionally, all schools will be required to teach Assam’s history and geography up to Class 8, he added.

Sarma also announced that the state government will designate certain blocks where only individuals who have lived there for at least three generations or since 1951 will be able to purchase land. This restriction will not apply to urban areas.

The chief minister added that Assam had requested the Union government to start tripartite talks for implementing the committee’s recommendations that fall outside the purview of the state.

The committee submitted its report in 2020 to the Assam government.

The committee recommended 1951 as the cut-off year to determine who qualifies as an Assamese, based on residency of individuals or their ancestors in that year.

Other recommendations by the committee include 100% reservations in Grade 3 and Grade 4 government jobs and 70% in Grade 1 and Grade 2 government jobs for Assamese persons and protection of land of indigenous communities, the Hindustan Times reported.