Guwahati: Assam’s minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Pijush Hazarika on Tuesday held a meeting in Guwahati regarding the formation of a committee to verify the authenticity of caste certificates of persons from the Ahom community.
During the meeting held at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati, the representatives of 4 organisations from the Ahom community urged Hazarika to ensure the rights of the Ahoms.
Addressing the issue, the minister informed that a new committee to address the matter would be formed after discussions with the representatives.
Making the announcement of the proposal for a new committee he said, “We addressed the challenges faced in issuing caste certificates to the Ahom community and discussed potential solutions.”
He further said, “This society will work towards resolving these issues with Cabinet approval in the coming days. We remain optimistic that this step will facilitate the Ahom community in obtaining their caste certificates.”
It was decided during the meeting that the committee would comprise members selected by representatives of the Ahom organisations, who will be empowered with the right to verify the credibility of the applications for caste certificate, he said.
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Underlining the importance of the challenges faced by the members of the Ahom community, the minister said that to expedite the process, the new committee would be required to register under the Societies Registration Act, 1960 and a proposal would be submitted to the Cabinet for approval of the same.
The minister hoped that the process of handing out caste certificates for the Ahom community would be seamless and fair in the near future.
The meeting was attended by Binita Pegu, secretary, state Department of Tribal Affairs (plains), Kulashree Nath, director, Welfare of SC, and other senior officials of the concerned department.
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