Assam approves directorate under Indigenous Faith Department

The directorate is expected to kick-start the process of preserving indigenous faiths.

The Assam Cabinet has approved the creation of a directorate and posts under the newly-established Indigenous Faith and Culture Department that was notified a month ago.

The directorate is expected to kick-start the process of preserving indigenous faiths such as Bathou of the Bodo community and Heraka of the Zeme Naga community, considered to be endangered because of conversions to mainstream religions.

In July, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the decision to create a department for the preservation and promotion of indigenous faiths and cultures. He had said such a department would not be tagged with other departments such as Culture or Welfare of Plains Tribes and Backward Classes.