By HH Mohrmen
The President of the state unit of the BJP has recently upped the party’s ante especially on charges of corruption against the two Autonomous District Councils in the State. There is a saying in the local parlance, ‘Ki sla dieng kim ju khih khlem ka jingbeh ka lyer’ which means the leaves on the trees will not move if there is no wind. The charges are not unfounded and therefore the function of the two district councils needs re-examining.
When the staff of one the ADCs has not received their salary for more than nine months and the employees in another Council have not been paid for almost two years, then the members of the ADCs and the State Government needs to take a hard look at the affairs of the two Councils. The people of Meghalaya, particularly those who are active in the District Council Affairs need to do an in-depth introspection on what has gone wrong with the two ADCs. Since the elections to the ADCs are also contested on the basis of party politics, the political parties too are to be blamed for the state of affairs in the two ADCs. The question that begs the answer is what has brought the two ADCs to this sad stalemate.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution prescribes that the subject of allotment, occupation or use, or the setting apart, of land, except land which is a reserved forest for the purposes of agriculture or grazing or for residential or other non-agricultural purposes or for any other purpose is a District Council subject. The Council is also empowered to manage any forest within its jurisdiction except the reserved forests. And apart from the rivers, the use of canal or water courses for the purpose of agriculture is also a District Council subject. But why are all our rivers in such bad shape? What have the ADCs done to protect and preserve the rivers in the state?
The power to establish village or town committees or councils and the appointment and succession of Chiefs or Headmen is entrusted with the District Ccouncils. The matter relating to tradition which includes inheritance of property; marriage and divorce; social customs are also subjects under the purview of the District Councils. But almost all the ADCs have done precious little in this regard and the young people today cannot distinguish between the indigenous and the alien culture.
For example a friend had pointed out on social media, that young people did not realise that the concept of Adam’s rib is a foreign idea which is predominantly an Abrahamic religion concept. In the Pnar tradition marriages comprise of three major stages which include ‘Kyllad kurim, ‘ka e Synjat Lator’ or engagement, and ‘ka lam-ïutang’ or marriage. The tribals also have tradition of divorce ‘ka pynlait san shyieng’ or ‘i pynleit kurim’ in Pnar which includes ‘i e thnem or e chipiah’ which is an accepted symbol of separation between husband and wife. Divorce is an accepted norm and there is a tradition in place which has to do with this practice, and ‘till death do us apart’ is also a borrowed idea.
Perhaps this also is the reason why the concept of registering of marriages is not practiced by the people who follow traditional religion. The ADCs have only issued license to the marriage registrar of different Christian denominations as per the existing laws, however no license was issued to register marriages amongst the followers of the traditional religion. It was only recently that the Daloi and other religious heads of the Traditional religion were authorised to register marriages in their respective communities.
Customary practices in the area under the jurisdiction of the ADC have not even been documented and considering the rate at which people convert to Christianity, the fear is that it will be too late by the time ADCs decide to do so. The need to at least have these traditional practices documented before they disappear from the face of the earth is very urgent and important.
The ADCs not only have the powers to establish primary schools in areas under their jurisdictions but they can also establish, construct, dispensaries, markets, and in some cases look after fisheries, roads, road transport and waterways. Sadly due to the Council’s own mishandling of the important subject, management and administration of the Lower Primary Schools in the state has now been taken over by the State Education department.
The Councils were empowered to assess and collect land revenue and to impose taxes but they have failed in this front too. The classic case in point is when agricultural land is allowed to be transferred from ‘Patta Hali’ which is used for rice cultivation to land holding for non agriculture activities. Such lands were converted to residential area especially those on the banks of or near the rivers. The outcome of such act is as what has happened along the Wahumkhrah River is also the subject of the District Council but they have not come up with mechanisms to protect the catchment areas and restrict the construction of any structures on the banks or near the river.
The ADCs are also empowered to issue licences or leases for the purpose of extraction of minerals and the share of the royalties collected each year from licences or leases are shared between the ADCs and the State Government. Earlier royalty was collected by the ADCs but again for reasons best known to the two parties, the State Government took over the responsibility of collecting the same and shared the accrued royalty with the ADCs at its whims and fancy. The District Councils were also empowered with the authority to regulate and control money-lending and trading by non-tribals, but more often than not this authority is used as a means of earning revenue for the Councils.
The major issue which is also a contention that many MDCs have, is paragraph 12A which also hangs like a Damocles sword over the Councils’ neck. This is related to the application of the Acts of Parliament and of the Legislature of the State of Meghalaya to autonomous districts. Para 12(A) says ‘notwithstanding anything in the Constitution, if any provision of a law made by a District in the State of Meghalaya is repugnant to any provision of a law made by the Legislature of the State of Meghalaya, then, the law or regulation made by the District Council shall be void and the law made by the Legislature of the State of Meghalaya shall prevail.’
The law mandates that the ADCs shall have to constitute a District Fund for each autonomous district but the reason that the two ADCs in the state are in financial distress is of their own making. It was in the last State Level Audit Advisory Board (SLAAB) meeting that the members were informed that the books of accounts of the two Councils have not been audited for almost a decade now.
The ADCs particularly those of the Garo and Jañtia Hills are in the news on a regular basis but sadly, for all the wrong reasons. The state of affairs in both the Jañtia Hills Autonomous District Council and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council has caused undue hardship to the staff who have not received the salaries due to them for almost two years. When Garo Hills ADC has failed to pay the staff salary for almost twenty months, the question is how can the Government even consider holding elections to the Council where it will have to spend few crores of rupees to do the same?
Nothing is perfect and the same goes for the ADCs. They have not been able to perform as was mandated by the law, but the existence of the Councils is crucial for the local people of the state. Although a lot has change and society has evolved but the relationship between the people and the land is still a very crucial aspect of their lives. Protecting and preserving the vestiges of culture and traditions of the people is another important matter. The need of the hour is for the State to help the two ADCs come out of the red and transform the important institution for posterity.