SHILLONG, Feb 28: State BJP vice-president and GHADC MDC from Tura, Bernard N. Marak has accused ministers in the state of desperately trying to mislead the Centre and trying to dilute the constitutional provisions in the attempt to snatch funds sanctioned for the rural local bodies (RLBs) under the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) and also dishonouring the Agreed Text for Settlement (ATS) signed by ANVC and ANVC (B) in 2014.
Stating that the basic and tied grants recommended by the Fifteenth Finance Commission to be routed through the RLBs under ADCs is being targeted by the state government in its letter to the union rural development minister concerned, Marak said, “The union minister declined the proposal of the state to recognise Village Employment Councils (VECs) as traditional bodies as the funds are meant for ADCs.”
“The reason why the state has been constantly interfering in the matters of ADCs now becomes very clear – it wants to stop ADCs from being strengthened,” he said.
Alleging that the attempt to divert the funds meant for the ADCs was exposed in the letter, Marak said a minister concerned tried to foist the role of the state over ADCs under the Sixth Schedule.
The letter was reportedly submitted by Sniawbhalang Dhar, the then Community and Rural Development Minister on July 3, 2020.
He quoted the letter as stating, “Meghalaya is a state under the Sixth Schedule and has Autonomous District Councils to safeguard the interests of the indigenous population. The ADCs were envisaged as an institution which incorporates and accommodates and protects the interest of the people the state and they deal mostly with the traditional customs and laws, issues related to land and licensed related to trade.”
Marak pointed out that the 93rd amendment of the Constitution does not extend to the state and the villages have been governed by traditional headmen with the consensus of the residents, however, in the second paragraph the minister stated that with the shift in developmental paradigm and coming of rights-based acts such as the MGNREGA, the state government came up with a village-level body which incorporates the modern and traditional practices.
He pointed out that as the tribal institutions (ADCs) were neither equipped nor empowered to implement the developmental programmes, the state government decided to adopt the system and created Village Employment Councils (VECs) in each and every village that implements MGNREGA.
“It can be seen here that the state government secretly made attempts to impress upon the Centre to recognise state-run VECs as traditional bodies instead of RLBs under ADCs, stating the ADCs are unequipped and not empowered to implement developmental programmes,” he said.
Stating that the attempt to divert the funds meant for RLBs to the VECs was ruled out by the central government which honoured the Agreement signed by two groups of ANVCs in 2014, the Tura MDC said, “The state claimed VECs were village level bodies which incorporate modern and traditional practices but in reality, it was totally wrong as VECs were not traditionally based but are actually politically backed where office bearers are appointed without an election.”
He said the Centre’s order to empower women remains impractical, people are made to work but their wages are not cleared and their accounts are not updated to the Centre, the wages were never paid in the accounts of the villagers but the secretary of VECs control the funds, work demands and enrolments and anyone who challenges them gets their names removed from the VECs.
“This all can be seen as a desperate attempt of the state government to sabotage the funds meant for RLBs and weaken ADCs, which are recognised under the Fifteenth Finance Commission to implement the grants under it,” he alleged.
Reminding that the funds are streamlined through the implementation of the ATS signed by ANVC and ANVC (B) in 2014 where it is agreed in paragraphs 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 9.3 that the funds should devolve to village level traditional institutions under ADCs and not VECs, he said that the state deliberately dishonoured the ATS signed for strengthening of ADCs in spite of it being a party in an agreement.
“The state government also did not convene even a single meeting after signing of the agreement to monitor its implementation because it dishonoured the agreement signed to strengthen ADCs in Meghalaya,” he added.