Agartala, Aug 5 - The Congress-led Assam government is learning from the Left Front government in Tripura how to effectively run autonomous district councils for the tribal people.
A five-member ministerial team led by Assam Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman is on a three-day visit to Tripura to study the functioning of the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which provides tribals constitutional rights to develop their socio-economic position.
'Various ethnic groups in Assam have demanded separate autonomous district councils, but since the tribals are scattered in the different areas it is becoming difficult to constitute autonomous bodies for them,' Barman told journalists here Wednesday.
As per the 2001 census, 15.64 percent of the 20.33 million population in Assam is tribal. Prominent among them are the Bodo, Mising, Rabha, Sonowal, Lalung (Tiwa), Deori and Thengal (Mech).
The visiting Assam ministers said Tripura's tribal areas autonomous district councils are seen as role models in the country.