SHILLONG, July 31: Leader of the Opposition and TMC Parliamentary Party chief, Mukul M Sangma, on Thursday, said if the state government fails to act and engage meaningfully with the crisis in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), the region’s legislators will be forced to take to the streets and stage dharnas.
He questioned the government’s tendency to “turn a deaf ear” to the grievances of the employees of GHADC, saying that this “insensitivity” reflects the intention of the ruling dispensation to weaken the ADCs.
Condemning what he termed a “crippling situation”, Sangma said the state’s failure to address the 42-month salary drought faced by GHADC employees reflects not just administrative negligence but an inexcusable level of irresponsibility.
The employees, he said, have been pushed into deep financial and emotional distress, struggling for basic sustenance while the government remains unmoved.
He noted that GHADC employees have had to resort to sustained peaceful agitation to highlight their plight, even as they continue to suffer in silence, many unable to provide two square meals for their families. The fact that salaries have not been paid for nearly four years, he said, illustrates the severe financial hardship endured by the staff.
Sangma condemned the complete silence of the authorities, pointing out that no official statement or action plan has been put forward to resolve the issue. This, he said, is not just about financial mismanagement, but about a deliberate erosion of an institution that plays a vital role in tribal governance.
He warned that the dysfunction of the GHADC has begun to affect the wider public, with services grinding to a halt and the day-to-day needs of people being neglected. The government’s continued inaction, he said, was symptomatic of a larger apathy towards constitutional institutions under the Sixth Schedule.
Recalling the importance of ADCs in safeguarding traditional practices, tribal rights, and the indigenous way of life, Sangma questioned whether the government genuinely understands its duty. “If it does, then it is bound by that responsibility to strengthen and empower these bodies, not cripple them through neglect,” he said.
He recalled that under the previous state government, a tripartite agreement was signed between the A’chik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) and the Centre, aimed at strengthening the ADCs as an alternative to the demand for separate statehood. Minor amendments to the Constitution of India were discussed and agreed upon, but the necessary support that was supposed to precede those amendments never materialised, he said.
Referring to the Meghalaya Finance Commission Act, he stressed that it was designed to review the resource needs of local bodies like ADCs and municipal boards. “Yet, with this Act in place, the state has not fulfilled its obligations. Are they trying to cripple the ADCs indirectly?” he asked.
He reiterated that the crisis in the GHADC should not be seen in isolation, but as a wider indicator of the government’s failure to empower the ADCs. He condemned the state’s inaction and questioned whether there was a malafide intent to let these institutions collapse and fade into irrelevance.
Sangma also held the Centre responsible, recalling that the Ministry of Home Affairs had committed to amending certain provisions of the Constitution of India as part of the 2014 agreement signed with the ANVC. However, he pointed out that these amendments have yet to see the light of day.
He noted that in 2015-16, the Centre released substantial funds under the Special Assistance Grant to all three ADCs, including the GHADC. Allegations of misuse of funds in the GHADC, particularly through the RTO, surfaced, and the matter was taken up with the Lokayukta. That case, he said, is still pending and must be disposed of without delay.
He cautioned that allegations of financial irregularities should not become an excuse to throttle future funding. If the ADCs are weak in resource generation, the government must step in and provide the necessary support as mandated by the State Finance Commission Act, he pointed out.
“These are government institutions,” Sangma said. “The Governor is an integral part of the ADC structure; they cannot be abandoned.”
He stressed that in Meghalaya, where the Panchayati Raj system does not apply, ADCs are the foundation of grassroots governance for tribal communities. Undermining them, he said, is akin to weakening the very spirit of the Sixth Schedule.
“The quantum of insensitivity demonstrated here reveals an inexcusable level of irresponsibility,” Sangma said, condemning both the State and Centre for their neglect. “You strengthen the ADCs, you strengthen our way of life. But if you weaken them, you weaken everything they stand for.”
