By Our Special Correspondent
SHILLONG: To observe its 19th founding day, the Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei (LKSK) a federation of women’s organisations in East Khasi Hills organised a discussion on the contentious draft of the Village Administration Bill 2011, proposed by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), at the Don Bosco Youth Centre here on Monday.
In her welcome address ms Theilin Phanbuh, President, LKSK also informed the audience that the chief guest for the occasion, KHADC CEM Pynshngain Syiem had opted out of the meeting at the last moment thereby leaving a void as the gathering was essentially meant to be a deliberation on the proposed Bill.
The LKSK invited learned speakers comprising Dr LS Gassah, Dean, Department of Political Science, NEHU, former Additional Advocate General of Meghalaya Mr WHD Syngkon, former bureaucrat and ICARE President, Toki Blah and Editor, The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim
Dr Gassah admitted that the Bill has some contentious issues such as the concept of ‘Ka Teh Rangbah’ which means the initiation of a Khasi adult into the Dorbar Shnong. He said this is a new concept which he had not heard before. Since the word ‘Rangbah’ essentially implies a male, Gassah questioned if the Dorbar in this day and age can be the exclusive domain of male members at the decision making level.
According to the KHADC proposal, the Village Development Council would fall under the purview of the Dorbar Shnong an inherently male-dominated body, hence the questions that the Bill raises is whether there would be adequate representation of women at the decision making level in the Council. This query was raised by Patricia Mukhim who first critiqued the Bill in her weekly column.
Pointing out that the proposed Bill has some legal lacunae, Mr WHD Syngkon said, ” It would have been better if the Executive Member in Charge Elaka was present at the meeting to clarify on the grey areas surrounding the Bill,” adding that more time should be given to study and discuss the proposed Bill at different forums and by different Dorbar Shnong since it has several ramifications.
Mr Toki Blah differed with previous speakers and asserted that the Bill is aimed at bringing about participatory governance at the grass roots level and that it aims at inclusive governance since the constituents of each Dorbar would be able to formulate their own development plans. “I don’t see how the Bill is contentious when the objective is to broad-base decision making,” Blah said. He said that the district councils were created to safeguard the customs and practices of the indigenous people and the Bill is only reinforcing that objective.
Earlier Ms P Phanbuh read out a self-composed poem on the need to grant equal status to women and men in society. She decried the attempts to deprive women from becoming equal decision makers in the traditional institutions. Others who spoke at the function included Ms Fenella Lyngdoh, Vice Chairperson Meghalaya law Commission and Ms Roshan Warjri, Chairperson State Women’s Commission.