By Wankitbok Pohshna
During the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment when The Panchayati Raj system for grassroots urban and rural governance was introduced in the country for decentralization of certain subjects that were of grassroots importance, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram were then exempted on the plea that the traditional institutions under Districts Councils were already in existence. Our leaders made the central leadership believe that all was well with grassroots governance. No doubt there is the Dorbar system till date in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. However, in 2014 when the authority of the Dorbar was questioned by the single bench of the Meghalaya High Court and when the headman was stripped of his power there was chaos. This warranted the then State Government to come up with an Ordinance that lived for six months and the grassroots governance Bill that was initiated simultaneously had to be thrown out as trash since almost all stakeholders rejected the idea of such Bill carefully thought so by the State.
In 2016 the Division bench upheld the judgment of the single court and a certain direction was issued to the State on matters related to powers of the Headman. An interim stay was also granted by the Supreme Court on a special leave petition filed by the KHADC the same year and somewhat by the said order the Headmen were once again allowed to function as per rules framed by the Councils. Barring Jaintia Hills region what are the rules under which Headmen in the Khasi Hills are to function? The VAB of KHADC is yet to see the light of day. Currently the Headman functions as per sanad from the Syiem which is against the entire idea of grassroots devolution framework.
Now with the amendment to the Sixth Schedule currently under process, our State leaders and of course certain NGOs have expressed apprehension towards the creation of village and municipal councils that were to come under the purview of the Sixth Schedule. Their claim is that we have the robust Dorbar system well in place that could not be diluted at any cost. The million-dollar question is – which Dorbar system are they talking about and under which provision of the law? This is yet to be understood by most of us and further, failure on the part of the State to seriously address this portion of the amendment will surely deprive citizens of Meghalaya from many benefits that other states derive by such decentralization.
In Shillong city, various dorbar shnongs come under the municipal administered area of Shillong municipality and most subjects on civic amenities are looked after by the SMB which of course stands as a non-elected body since 1972 the year our state was born. This is the outcome of the state’s lackadaisical attitude towards its citizens when it comes to grassroots governance 50 years on. With urbanization exploding, the garbage collected by the SMB from households is set to two or three times a week and people living in these areas are deprived of the appropriate service for the remaining four days of the week. And if one has to miss the slot which usually is in the morning hours of the particular route he/she is bound to keep the solid waste at home or dump it in the nearby secluded space or stream if the need arises. This can be well corroborated by the rampant dumping of garbage that is witnessed frequently in and around the city roads, vacant lands and streams.
We cannot forget that we are also on the verge of losing the Wah Umkhrah if not for the initiatives taken by certain groups and individuals to clean it up whenever they could. Instead of getting morning and evening slots on alternate days to dump household garbage, citizens have only one option and that is to wait for change to come and nothing else. There is also no effective garbage management system in the pipeline to dispose garbage from market areas in Shillong city to this day. And there is no holistic approach on this subject from the SMB and deliberately not even from the KHADC which is supposed to be the co-stakeholder.
What can be understood from the stand taken by the State on the current Amendment Bill is that people will further not be allowed to participate in urban governance. Urban management is not their concern here. Most street lights in the administered areas are not functional at all and it poses a serious threat to pedestrians during the dark hours. There are illegal activities with many taking advantage of darkness in most areas of the city while our law keepers are burdened with other tasks that are equally detrimental. Maintenance of roads and drains is irregular and in the end citizens are paying the price.
The distribution of drinking water is irregular, insufficient and unequal in all localities of Shillong municipality. The municipal tax charged from each household is exorbitant for the services that they seldom receive or nor receiving at all. In certain municipal areas that do not have access to motorable roads even getting the cesspool service is a distant dream. Aren’t the citizens living in these areas entitled to participate in municipal elections to choose their ward commissioner who will address issues concerning civic amenities? Or is the govt contemplating appointing headmen as ward commissioner? Aren’t citizens of municipal areas entitled to receive grants through devolution as enshrined in the Constitution? Aren’t citizens of rural Meghalaya also entitled to the same set of benefits that others receive in the rest of the country? Are we ready to accept that the present Dorbar system is not ready to take up such challenging subjects in question if we constantly reject such necessary changes that touch the lives of each individual in a society? Will the Dorbars or Headmen accept their role in urban or rural governance? All intellectuals, concerned citizens and general public living in municipal areas of Shillong as well as to those who do not fall under municipality should introspect on these issues that form the basis of our day to day lives.
Since the present Dorbar system has been placed before the Center as a yardstick to reject the village and municipal council form of grassroots governance by our state leaders, will they also clarify what the similarities or differences are that stand between the proposed Councils with the Dorbar system that we currently have now? There seem to be conflicting scenarios which is beyond basic human understanding between the two. We have a Dorbar Shnong with a set of rules that is conflicting with another dorbar shnong on one hand, and on the other we see certain dorbar shnong up against the state at times on certain issues that crop up with the breakdown of the law. There are dorbar shnong issuing diktats which stand against right to life, while there are those who think that they are themselves the law. There are many instances where the public are subjected to situations where they are deprived of their basic rights if they do not subscribe to the diktats of headmen in their areas. So, is the State Government once again contemplating that the Dorbar system is to be considered as a means for devolution of vast government subjects to the grassroots population in their present form?
How many Dorbars are elected by adult suffrage and how many through voice vote? How many Dorbars allow or do not allow participation of women till date? While most Dorbars issue directions to their citizens on cleanliness or conduct annual cleaning drives in their respective shnongs, Shillong is still placed at the bottom rank in parameters of a clean city. Do we still find the age-old time -tested institution of the Dorbars relevant for urban governance?
In certain areas falling under municipality apart from municipal taxes citizens also have to pay to dorbars that collect funds in the name of maintenance of drains/ footpaths/cleanliness etc. This places a double burden on citizens who have to pay both parties for the very same purpose. Does this sound legal? Who will address all these basic issues? If not the state, who?
The State Government of Meghalaya, the District Councils or whosoever is at the helm of governance is bound to answer these serious questions to the public at large since the Central Government is now is paving the way for correcting constitutional anomalies when it comes to village and municipal administration in the state of Meghalaya this time around. Any decision based on emotions should not make us miss the bus once again as a society and as a State because this could take us back to primitive ways in societal management. Are we the citizens of beautiful Shillong ready to embrace another political mistake?