Joel Chatfield
The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is an autonomous district council for the Bodoland Territorial Region in India. It was established in February 2003. The BTC has 40 elected members and an additional six members that are appointed by the Governor of Assam. The area under the BTC jurisdiction is officially called the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). The region falls within the geographical map of the least developed region in India. The agro-based economy is the only source of livelihood of the people. Industrialisation and other employment opportunities are scant. The Bodoland Territorial Council is headed by a Speaker and is executive committee is chaired by a Chief Executive Member, most recently Hagrama Mahilary. The BTR consists of four contiguous districts — Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang — carved out of seven existing districts — Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and Sonitpur — an area of 8,822 km² (11% of Assam land area i.e 78,438 km² ) comprising various protected tribal belts and blocks in Assam. Its establishment was under the Amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. The term of the previous council ended on 27 April 2020 and following the postponement of elections scheduled for 4 April 2020 a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Bodoland is under Governor’s rule until a new council can be elected.
