SHILLONG: A joint meeting under the umbrella of National Tribal Council of India was held on Saturday between the Tamil Nadu Tribal Council and the Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya, including the Girijana Aikya Vedika, (Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh), relating to the mandate of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes under Article 338A and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under Article 338 B and other indigenous people issues.
The first Commission on SC & ST was constituted in August 1978. The National Commission for SC & ST came into being consequent to assent to the 65th Amendment Bill, 1999 notified on June 8, 1990 and rules notified on November 3, 1990.
Chairman of the Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya, John Kharshiing, in a statement issued here on Saturday said the meeting noted that the 89th Amendment of the Constitution which came into force on February 19, 2004, bifurcated and constituted the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes set up under Article 338A, to oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution.
The tribal meeting noted with concern and regret that while clause 5(d); clause 6 of Article 338A stipulates that the NCST Commission presents to the President its ‘Annual Report’, and that the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before Parliament along with a Memorandum explaining the “action taken or proposed to be taken” on the recommendations relating to the Union and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any of such recommendations. But this is not followed regularly.
The National Tribal Council, also noted that clause 7 of Article 338A provides that any part of the report that relates to any State Government, copy of such report shall be forwarded to the Governor of the State so that it is laid before the Legislature along with a Memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the Union and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any of such recommendations.
What is shocking is that Government has so far laid in both houses of Parliament only three reports (2004-05, 2005-06; and 2006-07; including the special report, while four reports of period 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 are yet to be placed before both houses of Parliament till date, Kharshiing said.
The meeting also felt that failure to place the reports along with Action taken Reports before both houses of Parliament is a serious miscarriage of justice and violation of Constitutional and Human Rights.
The meeting noted the recent decision of the Central Government to do away with archaic laws, rules and regulations, and felt that the Center must also look into the flaws and lacuna that exist in a number of laws, rules, and regulations which are hampering the development of the marginalized indigenous tribal people. “If RTI is time bound, why can’t reports be placed before Parliament in a time bound manner,” Kharshiing questioned.
The meeting unanimously resolved to authorize Kharshiing to prepare a note on behalf of the tribal groups of India to petition the Prime Minister, to see that the rights of the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste are not undermined by the serious constitutional lapse, just because the provisions are silent on the time frame to place reports before both Houses of Parliament. The gathering resolved to send a joint petition to the Prime Minister, the leaders of various political Parties, to urgently consider effective legislative measures to suitably amend and strengthen Article 338 A and 338 B to ensure both the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the National Commission for Scheduled Caste, directives are made mandatory and that the recommendations are implemented in a time bound manner.