By Sumarbin Umdor
Traditional governance in Meghalaya received a severe jolt with the recent ruling of the Honorable High Court striking down certain functions of traditional village councils (TVC) such as the issue of no objection certificates (NOCs) which have become a mandatory requirement for citizens in Meghalaya to avail different services from state public sector entities. In its order, the High Court ruled that Headmen of TVC called the dorbar shnong have no authority to engage in activities which fall in the domain of state government agencies as no law has been enacted which empowers them to exercise these functions.
In Meghalaya, TVC and other traditional governance structures of the Dorbar Raid (council of cluster of villages) and the Syiem (Chieftain) continue to wield strong influence on society and they function as parallel governments. These traditional structures are custodians of land which is allocated to the tribesmen for farming and residential purposes. They also play a key role in cultural and religious practices of the people and in the settlement of inter and intra village conflicts.
Besides the customary roles, TVCs in the state have been regularly co-opted by the government in civic administration, implementing of various welfare and developmental programmes, and maintenance of law and order. They have emerged as a key interface between government agencies and citizens within their jurisdiction. Over the years, TVCs have expanded their activities to include distribution of water supply, garbage disposal, maintenance of land records, regulating construction of houses, planning and maintenance of community assets and infrastructure- functions that fall in the domain of local government in a modern state.
Most countries have some form of local government constituted by law and devolved with political and economic powers for administration of public affairs and delivery of limited public services to a relatively small geographically defined area. In democratic countries representatives of local governments are elected by local residents based on principle of universal adult suffrage. This form of government is advocated as it allows citizens to participate in administration of local affairs leading to efficient decision making and ensuring a democratic and truly representative government, while safeguarding citizens’ right and the misuse of power.
In India, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (CAA) made it mandatory for states to constitute elected local bodies for rural and urban areas (three tier panchayati raj institutions-PRI and municipalities) devolved with powers to enable them to plan and implement programmes for local economic and social development. The above CAAs have assigned 29 functions to rural local bodies and 18 functions to urban local bodies, along with financial devolution in the form of assigned taxes, tax sharing and grants-in–aid. Today, as many as 32 different tax and non-tax sources of revenue are collected by PRIs.
In rural areas, PRIs consist of the elected village council or the Gram Panchayat (GP) at the base in the hierarchy of elected local governments. Two of the most common tasks performed by GPs are beneficiary selection for government welfare schemes and construction and maintenance of village public goods such as streetlights, roads and drains.
In Meghalaya the local government structure is different from the above constitutional arrangement. Autonomous District Council (ADCs) constitute the third tier of elected local bodies at the district level but assigned with limited powers insofar as provisioning of local public goods and services is concerned. Below the ADCs are the traditional institutions which were retained in the tribal areas of Northeast India under the Sixth Schedule, with the ADCs having the authority for recognition, appointment, deposition, and suspension of chiefs and headmen of traditional institutions.
Although ADCs in the state have the authority for framing of laws for administration of towns and villages under their jurisdiction, they have not done so leading to the present situation where over a period of time TVCs have assumed public administrative function and development roles without formal devolution of such powers to them. The Village Administration Bill (VAB) of 2012 is a belated attempt to rectify this failure.
This VAB provides formal recognition and legality to the customary and local government functions of the TVC. It also seeks to address serious limitations of the TVC in the areas of accountability and gender equality. Women even today are excluded from the formal decision making process and election of headmen of villages. Under the proposed bill, a new institution is to be created called the village development committee (VDC) which will allow for the full participation of all adult members including women in the committee.
While the VAB must be lauded for introducing provisions for curbing undesirable practice of banishment and arbitrary decision of TVC that affects the rights and freedom of villagers, there are however some serious reservations as the bill seeks to make the popular elected VDC subservient to the TVC. There is also the added danger of conflict between the TVC and VDC which would further complicate the already knotty affair of village administration. The bill is also ambiguous in so far the composition and election of representatives to the VDC is concerned. While VAB has included varied development roles for the TVC/VDC council, it has not clearly identified financial resources to enable the village councils to effectively discharge their responsibilities.
In Mizoram and Tripura, ADCs have enacted laws that establish village councils/committees whose representatives are directly elected through secret ballot by residents of the village based on adult suffrage. It is interesting to note that the elected village committees function as lower tier of local governments in these states, while also being responsible for the administration of customary practices of the people. For example, it is the elected village council that appoints the village crier, regulates the customary practice of community work, as well as discharging the duties of village court for trial of suits and cases as per the customary law and practice of the community.
The existence of formal and informal institutions of governance and clashes between the two systems is fairly common in many countries in Africa and various strategies have been adopted by these countries to reconcile and integrate the traditional institutions into formal governance structure. Botswana has tried to achieve this integration by giving formal recognition to the existing tribal administration and making it one of the four pillars of local government structure at the district level along with elected representatives and government agencies. It has also introduced reforms in the traditional institution by adopting modern democratic principles and practice. Further, the Chieftainship of tgotla, which is a traditional community council dominated by the male elders, has been opened to women and has allowed the appointment of women chieftains.
This brings us to the present situation in the State wherein there is great amount of pressure on the state government to formalise and provide legality to the functions of TVC without so much as a mention of the need for traditional institutions to imbibe principles of good governance such as transparency, accountability, inclusion and participation. There is no reason that the role of TVC cannot be expanded to include both customary practices as well as local government functions, provided much needed reforms are in place. However, to achieve this we have to overcome the glass delusion syndrome which many of us seem to be afflicted with.
People suffering from glass delusion believe that they are made of glass and likely to shatter. King Charles VI of France was one of such sufferers who thought that his buttocks were made of glass and hence he wrapped it with blankets to protect it from shattering. Many of us seem to have the same problem as we believe that our society, institutions and culture are so fragile and tenuous that any reform or change from the status quo, no matter how desirable, would threaten the very existence of the community. King Charles VI could not do much during his reign as he would mostly lie down in one place to protect his buttocks. The same fate awaits us, unless we change.