Shillong, Jul 6: The Executive Committee (EC) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) on Monday clarified on the removal of the word “consultation” from the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land) (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
It may be mentioned that critics of the Bill argue that this change undermines the consultative role of traditional Khasi institutions, including dorbar shnong and himas, in crucial land matters.
KHADC Executive Member in-charge Land department Powell Sohkhlet stated that the consultation provision in Section 16 of the principal act relates explicitly to the fixation of land ceilings. He said this process has already seen extensive interaction with traditional institutions starting from 2021, aimed at establishing clear and fair land ceilings.
“Consultations were held with various raids and himas to fix the ceiling. The confusion arose because of the removal of the word ‘consultation’ from the amendment,” Sohkhlet said.
According to him, there was no intention to dilute the powers of traditional institutions as they continue to play an important role in the implementation of land-related provisions, including the identification, finalisation and allotment of land.
The Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land) Act, 2021 enforces strict land ceilings on Raid lands to prevent large-scale corporate or individual accumulation. The mandated maximum holding sizes range from two acres for homesteads to 15 acres for university campuses.
For industries, resorts/hotels the land ceiling is four acres, sports academies/stadiums/sports complex, religious institutions, commercial establishments are five acres and hospitals/nursing homes and wellness centres/cash crop plantations the ceiling is 12 acres.
The Executive Member stated that when the Bill was passed on the last day of the Budget Session of the KHADC, without any hassles.
He said that the amendment bill was passed after seeing that in the years gone by, Raid (Community) Land has turned into private lands.
Sohkhlet said that if there is no ceiling on buying of lands by individuals or groups is not in place then there is a fear that there will not be any more Raid lands.
Meanwhile, nominated MDC, Matthew Makdoh said that the Executive Committee led by the VPP decided to come up with the fixation of the ceiling so that the poor will get a share of the Raid lands.
Makdoh stated that in the years gone by Raid Land has been acquired by the rich and powerful.
“Such people are not only holding five or ten acres in some acres to the tune of 100 acres and many Raid lands have turned into private lands,” he said.
