By H H Mohrmen
Recently some pressure groups in Jaintia hills collectively objected to the toll collected by the organization of the Dalois in Jaintia hills. The tax which is being collected at every entry point to both the East and West Jaintia hills district was imposed in the name of customs and traditions. The toll collected by the Dalois of Jaintia hills has raised many questions and an ignorant layman like me wants answers to these questions. The collection of the customary tax by the organization of Dalois is a question not only for the organization itself and the Jaintia Hils Autonomous District Council but the man in the street also wants to know the stand of the Government both state and the central on the very important issue.
By tradition the Dalois collect a tax (called dan) from the markets within their respective elakas (area of jurisdiction). For instance in the case of eleka Jowai the Daloi can collect taxes only from the ‘berlaka’ or people from other elaka who come to do business in the market. It has been the practice since time immemorial that those farmers who are from elaka Jowai do not have to pay the dan, while people from elaka Thangbuli, Nongtalang, Nangbah Rymbai, Sutnga etc have to pay dan for selling their products in the Iawmusiang market. But this tradition is also being done away with and the Daloi now collects dan from whoever is doing business in the weekly market. In spite of the fact that local farmers from the elekas are exempted from paying dan by tradition, yet out of respect for the Daloi they pay the dan without any complain.
Apart from the dan many Daloi also enjoy the right to ‘ka rek daloi’ which is mostly in the form of paddy fields that the Daloi can use to support his family. The rek daloi is a known source of income for the daloi and it demonstrates the wisdom of our forefathers of having a system in place so that the Daloi can earn some revenue to support his family. Though the arrangement was not in the form of a salary, yet the Daloi enjoys the right to the produce from the paddy fields. This enables him to serve the community without any hindrance. Therek daloi passes on to the next Daloi on the demise of the current incumbent. This has continued for the past many generations. The rek daloi is a unique arrangement which attests to the ancient wisdom that when our ancestors created an office which serves both public and religious duties, they have a system in place that the person who holds office can perform his duty without having to worry about how he will feed his family. In other words unlike the office of the dorbar shnong which by tradition is voluntary in nature, the office of the Daloi has some semblance of remuneration to compensate the person who holds office for the service he renders.
After independence and the adoption of the Sixth Schedule of the constitution, the office of the Daloi and the other traditional chieftains like the Sordar of the elaka Saipung were recognized as subordinate officers of the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council. The Council also engaged the office of the Daloi in matters relating to registration of land and now the Daloi also charges money for any recommendations they make (which is mandatory) whenever a person applied for a land holding certificate.
By virtue of office, the Daloi is also a second class magistrate and conducts the proceedings of the village court which is under his jurisdiction. But the Daloiship is not known for and nor was it meant for doing any developmental work. Never in the history of the District Council has it ever been reported that the office of the Daloi is involved in construction of footpath, drinking water wells etc. Hence the most important question is, what will the money collected from the tax be used for? If the Dalois plan to use the money collected from the customary tax for developmental work, is it not true that we already have hundreds of schemes in both the Central (MNREGS), the state government and even in the district council for the same? Do we have a system in place to check duplication of work? How can we say that the latrine constructed in the village is from the Swacch Bharat mission (PHE) and not from MNREGS, MLA scheme or the District Council, is one such example?
Though there is no gender equality in the election to the office of the Daloi, yet by tradition the office has some semblance of democracy by which the Daloi is expected to act as per the supervision and advice of the dorbar eleka, but the question is how many Dalois had ever convened a regular Dorbar Elaka or had even constituted the Council of their respective elakas. By tradition the Daloi is expected to convene a meeting of the all- male Dorbar on a regular basis but now it rarely occurs in any elaka. Now the other question that begs the answer is whether any of the Daloi consult their respective Dorbar elekas before they decided to collect the customary tax?
One can understand if the Dalois collect taxes from horse-pulled carts or bullock carts, but since when has it become a tradition to collect taxes from trucks? This is another very important question. Approximately one thousand trucks ply only on the National Highway 44 every day, but the Dalois of Jaintia hills collect taxes from every entry point to the two districts. In a day, loosely calculated, the collection will be from more than two thousand trucks. The other question is how can the Association guarantee accountability? Does the public have the right to know how much has the office of the Daloi collected from the trucks in a day? If the public want to seek information on how the money collected is being used, what and where is the concerned authority to seek information from? Or does this new institution fall under the Right to Information Act? If so, have the Dalois appointed any person as their public information officer?
The other pertinent question is how can anybody other than the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) collect taxes from the roads built by using central government funds? Has the Daloi at any point of time contributed to the construction of any road? If the Dalois can collect taxes from the trucks plying on the national highway or any state road, then how can the government stop the Syiems, the Nokmas or even the Dorbar Shnong from collecting customary taxes from vehicles plying on public roads in the area of their jurisdiction? After all these are traditional institutions too.
With regards to the Daloiship, as per tradition, the office is has both secular and religious roles. The Daloi is not only the head of the elaka (which is his secular role) but he is also the head of the traditional religion (Niamtre) of the elaka. The dual role of the Daloi makes him the chieftain as well as the high priest of the Niamtre in his elaka hence this raises another important question as to how can a religious head collect taxes from the road constructed by the government.
The Daloi can and has all along collected the dan as mandated by tradition and has never collect taxes from vehicles. Collecting taxes from trucks has never been part of the tradition so is this not the case of abusing the office, powers and functions of the traditional institution? People have the right to know especially when the tax is collected from the trucks plying on the national highway constructed with public money.
The question is also to the central and the state government. Will they allow the Dalois to continue collecting taxes from the trucks plying on public roads? The trucks have already paid for the permits and road tax and toll gates installed by NHAI, why would they have to pay another tax? But the most important question is for the JHADC. If the Dalois are subordinate officers of the Council, does it also mean that the councils are responsible for whatever the Dalois are doing?