By Patricia Mukhim
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was envisaged at a time when the tribes of India’s North East had just entered into an agreement with “India” vide the Instrument of Accession, to live under its rule after the British left these hills. Rev JJM Nichols Roy was conscious of the unequal power status of the tribals vis a vis the plains people of Assam who were the majority in the government at the time. His arguments then were valid and they carried the hopes and aspirations of the people he represented even though they were still in a state of unresolved predicaments about how the Sixth Schedule could empower a population that was a small minority and had just got over one imperial rule by the white man who also brought the Book with them and converted a substantial number into their religion – a religion that the tribes accepted, perhaps because those who brought the Book seemed benevolent do-gooders who provided them health care and education.
Mr JJM Nichols Roy was the beneficiary of that education and was therefore able to rise to the position of a leader among tribals. Knowing to communicate in English then was a super-plus point because Nichols Roy had to convince not just the political leadership of Assam but the likes of Dr BR Ambedkar and other members of the Constituent Assembly about what he had in mind and why the tribes needed this special protection. That Nichols Roy was a man with a vision needs no retelling. The Sixth Schedule led to the creation of the autonomous district councils that were mandated to protect, conserve and promote the traditional and customary practices of the tribes.
Nichols Roy did not have it easy. Going into the debates between members of the Constituent Assembly from Assam and elsewhere on why the tribes should not be given autonomy because the region was encircled by foreign countries; that the governance of these areas should be with the President and not with the Governor else a “tribalstan” might be created that could later rebel against the Indian state etc, all show how little the region was understood then and even today.
The Councils were given the mandate to also manage healthcare at the grassroots level but above all to manage Primary Schools – the first and most important step in the ladder of education. Those who came up with this idea were visionaries because the Councils were supposed to be connected to the grassroots governance body- the Dorbar Shnong and primary education would have been supervised better by the Council’s own officers. Alas! Those who envisioned the Sixth Schedule did not take into account the human factor that would turn the Councils into institutions of self-gratification rather than of delivering genuine service to the tribes who needed education more than anything else. JJM Nichols Roy the architect of the Sixth Schedule must be turning in his grave several times over at seeing the degeneration of the institution he fathered.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General has had a running battle with the ADCS because of their lack of transparency and accountability in how they manage their accounts. Dr Sumarbin Umdor informed at the panel discussion on transparency and accountability of ADCs at the Office of the Principal Accountant General recently that the collective revenue of the 3 ADCs in the State in the last five years was to the tune of Rs 1347 crores of which 50% was revenue generated from royalty on mines and minerals, 30% was from grants in aid from the Government and 10% from professional taxes. Sadly, there is no accountability on how this money was spent. As it is the ADCs are overemployed and spend nearly half their budget in paying salaries. But the employees are mostly political appointees with not an iota of professionalism. This is evident from the budget document of the KHADC for 2023-24 which immediately gives the impression that not much thinking has gone into its preparation. All the figures projected are just a 10% or less hike from the previous budget with zeroes added to the first figure. No wonder the CAG report for the year 2014-15 is dated July 2022. This means an audit backlog of nearly 8-9 years. According to the audit reports cash books are not maintained as per CAG regulations; cash is not immediately deposited in the treasury but after a lapse of several days and utilisation certificates for money used are missing.
In the section Art and Culture there is a Non-Plan expenditure of Rs 9 lakh earmarked for Conservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture and Youth Affairs. The space for actual expenses for 2021-22, 2022-23 showed that nothing was spent on this head which one would think is the most important mandate of the Councils. An important observation of the CAG is also that the ADCs don’t have a recorded list of assets. Now what are the primary assets of the District Councils? From looking at the CAG reports it would seem that the ADCs are more interested in infrastructure creation (buildings) since this involves tenders and contracts. But what happens to these assets created thereafter? The KHADC’s most prominent constructions include the resorts by the Umiam Lake created at least 10 years ago but lying unutilised. Then there is a huge infrastructure created near Lum Sohpet Bneng ostensibly for housing the traditional medical practitioners. But how they are going to do that is unclear. This building too remains unutilised. Then there is a sort of restaurant cum lookout place at Wah U Tim near Mawmluh which was inaugurated in November 2022 but which is not yet taken by anyone. I visited this place only to find that the ceiling in the brand new building had caved in and water had seeped in through that ceiling. The floor was littered with water. If this is the standard of construction then is the contractor being held liable? Remember this is public money. It does not come from the pockets of the MDCs and not especially from the CEM’s pocket.
It is in this light that we have to look at the ADCs. Are they really in the business of protecting, promoting and conserving our culture – the core of which is our environment (Ka Mei Ramew)? We draw our sustenance and our very lives from the environment. Without the environment we are dead. Of what use is culture then? Yet how much have the ADCs done to conserve our river systems? What role have the ADCs played in preventing the reckless coal mining business in the State? After all, the ADCs effectively own the land in the Sixth Schedule areas. How much of the afforestation activities have they undertaken to conserve the environment on which our culture rests?
Time has come for those who fund the Councils to demand accountability and transparency. For, how long can the Councils, “Go as they please?” They need to buck up and ensure that every rupee spent is accounted for or else they forfeit future funding. This has to happen inevitably. There is a limit to how carelessly any institution can spend public money.
Another bigger institutional malfunction is the tenuous link between the Syiemships, the Dorbar Shnong and the District Council. How are they connected? Who are the Syiems who also collect levies, taxes and tolls from forests and markets accountable to? How much are they paying the Councils? Can this arbitrariness be allowed to continue? This goes for the Dorbar Shnong too. They also collect taxes from residents for carrying out civic responsibilities. But they too are out of the ambit of the public accounting system. Clearly, we live in a very ambiguous and amorphous political bubble that we have allowed to rule our lives without a semblance of accountability. The public should be raising these critical questions from public institutions and those that run these institutions.
The ADCs have strayed from the path envisioned for them by the founding fathers.