SHILLONG: Co-Chairman of Meghalaya State Planning Board, John F Kharshiing, who met AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, apprised him about the unrest in the State due to the demand for implementation of ILP.
In a statement issued here, Kharshiing said that he informed Gandhi about the ongoing conflict on ILP which according to Kharshiing was partly due to the insecurity felt by the slow change in the socio-economic political demographic of the State, including lack of constitutional legislative and administrative space for the tribal institutions.
According to Kharshiing, Gandhi assured that the matter would be examined thoroughly and looked into, and that his office would get back on other issues raised in the memorandum.
Party less Regional Council: An appeal to address the issues of the tribal Khasi, Jaintia and Garo chiefs through a separate ‘Party less Regional Council’ was also submitted to Rahul Gandhi by Kharshiing.
During the meeting, Gandhi enquired in details as to the party less political system existing within the traditional tribal chieftains and institutions of Meghalaya.
He was also informed about the existence of the 3363 unique Khasi political party less clan system barring inter-marriage, the process of decision making through consensus and referendum, and the process of ‘recall’ that exists.
According to Kharshiing, Gandhi was informed about the pending issues as mentioned in the white paper on Indian States – relating to the Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement of the Khasi States accepted by the Government of India on August 17, 1948, and the lack of space for the chiefs within the Constitution and the Sixth Schedule, the NCRWC report 2003 placed before Parliament during NDA rule and NCST, NHRC directives in 2012.
