SHILLONG: The Grand Council of Chiefs has said the Home Affairs Ministry’s decision to change the nomenclature of all autonomous district councils is in conflict with a recent resolution passed by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC).
The ministry has suggested that the district councils will be called ‘territorial councils’. The decision was taken during a recent meeting that was chaired by the chief minister and attended by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In a statement issued here on Monday, chairman of the council John F Kharshiing said this contradicted the KHADC resolution to add the word ‘United’ to its name.
“We recall that in the last session of the KHADC they had passed a resolution proposing a different name. What will be the fate of the Bill,” he said.
KHADC chief HS Shylla had said ‘united’ denotes unification of the 25 Khasi states with the erstwhile British area of the Khasi-Jaintia district.
Kharshiing said on behalf of the traditional institutions, the council had requested the CEMs, the ministry and the state government to ensure that in the proposed amendment of Article 280, while inserting a proviso for “augmenting resources for district councils”, a separate proviso for augmenting resources for traditional institutions of Meghalaya as provided for panchayats and municipalities should also be included.
The ADCs, the chief minister and the ministry had agreed to examine the same.
The Grand Council met to discuss the amendment to the Sixth Schedule.
