CONSTITUTION & TRADITIONAL Administration

U Sumar Sing Sawian

 

January 26, is the hallmark of the country’s independence and sovereignty, after a long spell and period of foreign dominance. The Constitution of the country had come into force, being the guide lines of administration from the central level right down to the grass root level. Gandhiji had always given emphasis and believed that the backbone of the nation lies in the villages and rural areas. It is the farmer that feeds the nation, the farmer who is entitled to reap the benefits of freedom, to manage the village, the home and the community, according to a set of governance in the true spirit of democracy.

Realisation on this vital fact, that traditional and grass root administration, rest upon the people themselves, known as the Pahnchayati Raj. This principle today cover the whole of the country, except in certain areas of North Eastern India including Meghalaya, because of the existence of traditional democratic traditions, including the Hima or Kingdoms of the Syiems, Lyngdoh, Doloi in Khasi- Jaintia Hills and also of the Nokmas in the Garo Hills.

The twenty five Khasi states, during the independence period, had signed the “Instrument of Accession” to the Union of India in 1947-48. It is therefore a national commitment, that the traditional administration in areas comprising the Khasi states, should be accorded a traditional form of administration on the basis of the “Instrument of Accession”, which can also be incorporated in the areas of Doloi of the Jaintia Hills and the Nokmas of the Garo Hills.

CONSTITUTION & TRADITIONAL Administration

U Sumar Sing Sawian

 

January 26, is the hallmark of the country’s independence and sovereignty, after a long spell and period of foreign dominance. The Constitution of the country had come into force, being the guide lines of administration from the central level right down to the grass root level. Gandhiji had always given emphasis and believed that the backbone of the nation lies in the villages and rural areas. It is the farmer that feeds the nation, the farmer who is entitled to reap the benefits of freedom, to manage the village, the home and the community, according to a set of governance in the true spirit of democracy.

Realisation on this vital fact, that traditional and grass root administration, rest upon the people themselves, known as the Pahnchayati Raj. This principle today cover the whole of the country, except in certain areas of North Eastern India including Meghalaya, because of the existence of traditional democratic traditions, including the Hima or Kingdoms of the Syiems, Lyngdoh, Doloi in Khasi- Jaintia Hills and also of the Nokmas in the Garo Hills.

The twenty five Khasi states, during the independence period, had signed the “Instrument of Accession” to the Union of India in 1947-48. It is therefore a national commitment, that the traditional administration in areas comprising the Khasi states, should be accorded a traditional form of administration on the basis of the “Instrument of Accession”, which can also be incorporated in the areas of Doloi of the Jaintia Hills and the Nokmas of the Garo Hills.

Page 2

 

However the move to strengthen the traditional administration in the grass root level is dis-jointed. Already the Meghalaya state government, has decided to transfer minor works of the departments of Public Works Department, Public Health Engineering, Animal Husbandry Veterinary, Agriculture, Weaving, Sericulture and Handloom, Irrigation and Fisheries, to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council. The pertinent question arises, about the two other district councils, being left out of this transfer of powers, that is the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council. This would certainly lead to a Constitutional and political complication, and would adversely affect the overall general administration of the state itself.

It is in this context that the Vice President of India Hamid Ansari, had called for a relook into the role of the autonomous district councils in the country, specially in the North Eastern region. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution aimed at strengthening the grass root traditional administration, does not cover or give a definite recognition of the role and powers of the different levels of traditional administration. The Khasi states by themselves are a composite entity of administration, each having a Dorbar or Governing body of representatives of the various clans, called the Dorbar Hima. The lower level is the Dorbar Raij, a conglomeration of various villages forming a commune and the third level is the Dorbar Shnong or village Council, managing the village affair and administration under the headman or the Rangbah Shnong.

The Vice President has therefore opined that a serious note should be taken of the politics administrative arrangements.  “One has to see if the District Councils have provided for a genuine empowerment and the democratization of the communities of the region, or have merely created multiple power centers. Therefore there is also the need to support and contribute to civil society engagement participation and intervention in the region with regard to conflict prevention for facilitating intermediation between the various stakeholders.”

The Vice President has rightly defined the aim of the Sixth schedule, as a “path-breaking effort to give small tribal communities, disadvantaged by lack of opportunity-educational, political and numerical powers through the system of autonomous district councils and protect their traditions, their way of life and their traditional livelihood. To an extent these laws have worked, but there have been other repercussions, including inadequate development, a multiplicity of authority, and in some cases, majoritarian groups applied pressure on small ethnic groups within their territories, depriving them of the very rights for which the structure was created”.

 It is therefore very true of what the Vice President has perceived on the Sixth Schedule of the functioning of the district councils, as there exist a blatant overlapping of powers at all levels, specially between the district councils and the state governments. At present there is a growing confrontation between the Khasi Hills autonomous District Council and the state government over legislation over the powers and functions Rangbah Shnong. The Chief Executive Member of the District Council Pynshai Manik Syiem, has stated that the government had no duty to make laws for the village headman who are empowered by the District Council. However it was the High Court of Meghalaya, in a recent ruling, recommended that the state government should bring in a suitable and comprehensive legislation to settle the controversies, connected with the issue once and for all.

However the crux of the matter concerning the District Councils empowered by the Sixth Schedule, is for the amendment of the Constitution itself, to give a clear cut definition on the role and powers of the traditional administrative institutions, right from the village level, the raij level and the apex Hima level, in the spirit of the Instrument of Accession, and also by taking and seeking opinions of all concerned, so as to obtain a comprehensive and acceptable solution.