GUWAHATI: A comprehensive survey on the population and socio-economic status of the Garo community in Assam is expected to lend momentum to the demand for a separate autonomous council for the community.
The United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee (UGACMC), the apex body representing the community in Assam, has recently initiated the survey, which is the first of its kind.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Tuesday, UGACMC chairman, Alex K. Sangma, said the survey would form the basis of our demand for a separate council which was raised since the community was accorded Scheduled Tribe status in the plain districts of Assam in 2003.
“There is no census on the population of Garos in Assam at present even as the last census (2001) puts the figure at 1.37lakh. We assume our population should exceed 10lakh now. The survey, which will take about three months at least, will also examine and analyse the socio-economic and educational (including statistics on graduates, postgraduates, school dropouts) status of the community,” Sangma said.
The Garo community claims to be the second largest ethnic tribe in the state, after the Bodo community
The panel has also put in place a network of members across Assam for online dissemination of updates and information in a bid to speed up the process.
The UGACMC chairman said that the survey, which was recommended by the chief minister in December, will examine the status of infrastructure in the Garo-inhabited areas of Assam as well.
“We have been facing utter neglect over the decades. To cite an instance, as many as 668 Garo-dominated villages in the core area of Goalpara and Kamrup districts have not seen the light of infrastructure development. Such imbalance can only be redressed by a Garo Autonomous Council where the community can set up and determine its own development goals,” he said.
The panel is also designing a website, www.ugacmc.org, where updates of the survey and other information will be available shortly.
“A report will be submitted to the state government and Centre on completion of the survey. We are optimistic on the separate autonomous council as the chief minister has assured us in this regard,” Sangma said.