Itanagar: The demand for creation of two autonomous district councils (ADCs) in Arunachal Pradesh re-surfaced in the state assembly on Monday with BJP member Dr Tangor Tapak asking the state government the status on the issue despite passing of resolution in the house on two earlier occasions.
The state assembly had passed two resolutions during 2004 and 2007 for creation of Patkai ADC covering Tirap and Changlang districts (newly created Londing also included) and Mon ADC encompassing Tawang and West Kameng districts.
Responding to the question during question hour, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki described the proposal in detail with comments of the state government on the memorandum submitted by the elected representatives of Tirap and Changlang and said it had already been submitted to the Centre on June 20 last.
Tuki assured the house about convening a meeting with the union Home Minister soon to discuss the issue.
While giving a detailed chronology of the initiatives of the state government on the issue, the chief minister informed that the department of Tirap, Changlang and Longding (DoTCL) was created with with fund provision of 25 crore annually for development of those districts.
When BJP member Tamiyo Taga suggested for evolving a mechanism for devolving more power to the elected representatives of the districts within the framework of the Constitution, Tuki said that the state was under the sixth schedule of the constitution and Panchayati Raj system is effective as per the 73rd Amendment Act.
“Bringing the state under the fifth schedule is the prerogative of the Centre,” the chief minister added. Notably, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are under the sixth schedule of the Constitution with scheduled area provision for creation of ADCs whereas Arunachal has not been given the constitutional benefit within the sixth schedule, according to constitutional experts. (PTI)
