Dorbars may cease to exist, fears former KHADC CEM

SHILLONG, Aug 12: Taking a strong note of the state government not taking exception to the proposal of including the words “village council” in the draft amendment of the Sixth Schedule, former Chief Executive Member of the KHADC Titosstarwell Chyne on Saturday feared that Dorbar Shnongs may cease to exist.
According to Chyne, inclusion of the words “village council” in the Sixth Schedule will mean that there will be village councils in the villages and localities, to which elections need to be held to elect its members.
The Dorbar Shnong will cease to exist, the former KHADC CEM warned.
“During my time, we have brought the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Village and Town Development Council) Act, 2021 to which will be in line with the move of the Centre to bring about grassroots governance. The VDC (village development council) will also be responsible for implementing the schemes implemented in the villages,” Chyne said.
He also observed that the ongoing debate that women should be part of the Executive Committee of the Dorbar Shnong is against the customs and customary practices. The former KHADC CEM said that they had kept provisions in the Village Development Council Act to have reservation for women members to become members or secretary of the council.
It may be mentioned that this Act seeks to deal with the welfare and socio-economic development of the towns and villages under the administrative control of the traditional bodies.
The Act paves way for creation of VDC and Town Development Council (TDC) which will be responsible for overseeing development works in villages and urban localities, respectively through the constitution of a village or town development fund.
On the other hand, Chyne, who was elected as one of the working presidents of the UDP, was enthused about a delegation led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the insertion of the words ‘unrepresented tribes’ in the proposed amendment.
According to him, the stand of the government is in line with the stand of various stakeholders including the councils as far the issue of ‘unrepresented tribes’ is concerned.