By H H Mohrmen
The three Autonomous District Councils in the state of Meghalaya have evolved and changed with time, but whether the change will help the ADCs become more effective or whether the Councils have become mere copies of the state government is the question. Meghalaya is generally divided into three main regions, hence based on this broad generalisation the district councils in the state of Meghalaya were also created accordingly. Hence we have the Khasi Hills, the Garo Hills and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council.
People who live in North East India have distinctive cultures which are unique to the region and in this context, the Constitution making body came up with a special provision in the Constitution to protect the tradition and cultures of the different tribal groups. The Constitutional provision known as the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was designed to cater to those specific need and the ADCs are institutions created to address the special requirements of the people in the region.
Therefore the mandate of the ADCs as prescribed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution is to protect and promote the unique customs and traditions of the tribals in their respective areas. However, there are hundreds of ethnic tribal groups in the region which are unique in their own way and their rights as enshrined in the Constitution need to be protected. But critics of the Autonomous District Council have raised several questions with regards to the functions and achievements of the ADCs and their relevance in Meghalaya’s present state of affairs.
The first question is whether the ADCs have achieved their mandate of protecting and promoting the unique tribal culture in their respective jurisdictions. The second most important question is whether the institutions are still relevant in the current political scenario. The relevance of the ADC is also being questioned in the context that we already have our own state with the same objective of promoting the unique tribal customs and traditions of the people in the area. Is there a need to continue with the ADCs when Meghalaya was a created as a separate hill state to cater to the same special needs of the people here?
The influence of the west and the cultures of people in the neighbouring states has had tremendous influence on the culture of the indigenous people of the state. Today there is not much difference between natives and the non- indigenous people of the state in the way people dress and behave. In the urban areas there is no difference even in the food habits between the indigenous people and the others because indigenous food is now consumed only by the people in the rural areas only.
In towns and cities people not only follow the same lifestyles but because our cities are fast becoming cosmopolitan areas, we even tend to speak the same language and thereby put our lingua franca at peril of vanishing from the face of the earth. The only cultural aspect that distinguishes us from the others is the fact that we follow a matrilineal lineage and the unique clan system that we have. The truth is we are losing our culture in the towns and cities and the last authentic Khasi-Pnar can be found only in the villages.
Even in the villages our farmers have lost some of their traditional farming practices and we have also lost most of our indigenous seeds which are being replaced by varieties of hybrid seeds. We are losing our customs, traditions, folk songs, dance and stories at a rapid rate and our ADCs are becoming mere spectators to what is going on.
The ADCs have failed in their job because they have become mere avenues for the state government (whichever government is in power) to accommodate the MDCs or the party’s second rung politicians. The ADCs are also no longer autonomous because the functions of these institutions have to a large extent being influenced by the state government of the day. Currently the ADCs have become play boards of the parties especially those that are in power in the state. The Department of District Council Affairs (DCA) becomes a handy tool for the government to influence the function of the ADCs.
Through the DCA the incumbent government control the ADCs by way of controlling the flow of funds both from the Central government and tax on mineral resources collected by the state government. In situations like this the ADCs have no other option but to toe the government’s line.
The truth is whenever there is a change in government at the state level, the Executive Committee of the various ADCs also follow suit. The cases in point are the two ADCs – the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council which experienced change of leadership the moment the MDA government was installed in Shillong. This is another major factor which to a large extent hampers the functioning of the ADCs.
The moment the new MDA government was instituted in Shillong; the Congress-led Executive Committee at both Tura and Jowai also collapsed on its own weight as Members of the District Council (MDCs) of the two ADCs also switched sides. And since the ADC is not under the purview of anti-defection law, they are not barred from switching sides. The MDCs can jump fence anytime and at their whim and fancy. This is also another reason that ECs in the district councils are becoming imminently unstable.
Frequent change of ECs at the District Council is not healthy for the smooth functioning of the ADCs because unlike the state government, the ADCs were created with a specific and special mandate. The function of the ADCs is also affected by the MDCs’ own approach and attitudes to their job and more often than not they feel that they are nothing but junior MLAs. The CEM of the ADCs also think that they can function like a Chief Minister of the state (only on a smaller domain) and they lay much emphasis on distributing grants and construction works.
The ADCs are engaging in road and bridges construction too. Recently there was a media report that the CEM of KHADC has decided to distribute Laptops to the students. Distributing Laptops is fine but isn’t this just copying what the state government is doing? Then there is also the question of duplicating of schemes because the ADCs also distribute grants to make ponds, constructions of school buildings, community halls and toilets which the state government is also doing.
If the objective of the ADCs is to protect and promote tribal culture then there should be a special way of governing or mechanism to administer the very functioning of the ADCs. The ADCs should stop duplicating and copycatting what the state government is doing and since it is mandated to protect the customs and traditions of the people, it should adopt the traditional way of managing the administration of the ADCs. The existing administrative mechanism of the Dorbar Shnong is one idea worth exploring for the very reason that the institution is being run on a political party-less system of government. Under such an arrangement the MDCs will only have to constitute the EC with its CEM which will be responsible for the functioning of the council and like in the village council, there will be no opposition and the general body will be opposition and the treasury bench at the same time.
In line with its mandate to protect and preserve the culture of the people the ADCs should adopt the traditional system which also runs more on a consensus than voting by ballot. If that happens then change of Chief Executive Member will be similar to change of Rangbah Shnong and it will not have adverse impact on the day to day function of the ADC. To be able to achieve their goal, the ADCs should stop acting like a mini government because they are not a government in the first place.