1 TRANSLATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ... - APFA News

militia force, and after returning to their Dzongkhags at the conclusion of the
79 th session, they should forward the list of genuine volunteers for militia
service without delay to the RBA Headquarters.
The Speaker noted that the people’s representatives from the different
Dzongkhags had all requested for militia volunteers to be once again mobilized
and trained. The people had repeatedly pledged to come forward with
manpower and material resources to support the Royal Government and the
armed forces. They had made these pledges in all the recent sessions of the
Assembly and in the Dzongkhag meetings. Therefore, upon the conclusion of
the current session, all the Dzongdas and Chimis should discuss this issue very
clearly with the Gups and the people and identify genuine militia volunteers as
reminded by His Majesty the King. The volunteers should not only be
physically fit but wholeheartedly committed to volunteering for militia service.
The list of the volunteers, who should be within 18 to 45 years of age, should be
submitted to the RBA Headquarters as soon as possible and thereafter the RBA
should impart suitable training to the militia volunteers.
Summing up the deliberations on the ULFA-Bodo problem, the Speaker said that,
the infiltration by armed ULFA and NDFB militants into the south-eastern
Dzongkhags of Bhutan posed a very serious threat to the security and sovereignty of
the country and was a source of deep concern to the Bhutanese people. The
representatives of the people from all the Dzongkhags and the business community
had called for the early removal of this problem and a very extensive debate on the
issue had been held over three days from 4 th to 6 th July, 2001. The Speaker
expressed his appreciation to the hon’ble members for having arrived at a
unanimous resolution. He said that the National Assembly extended its appreciation
and endorsed the agreed minutes of the meeting held between the Royal
Government and the ULFA in June this year, a copy of which had been given to
every member of the house. The outcome of the meeting reflected in the agreed
minutes provided an opportunity to reach a peaceful solution to the problem. He
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