Mawsynram MLA Himalaya Shangpliang raised the issue of a dispute in land regulations in Hima Maharam in the Assembly today.
According to Shangpliang, on December 31, the Syiem of Maharam directed the residents of Sawsymper area, comprising 15 Dorbar Shnongs, that in the event of any land transaction, 50 per cent of the amount from the land sold or donated to the government should be given to the Syiem, 20 per cent to the owner of the land, 20 per cent to the Dorbar Shnong and 10 per cent to the Dorbar Raid.
“This order of the Syiem of Maharam is arbitrary and contradictory to his own orders issued by his office on August 26, 2020,” Shangpliang said.
He informed the house that on September 15, 1944, the then Syiem of Maharam, Bamon Singh, had signed an agreement with the people of Raid Sawsymper wherein he had agreed that all matters relating to the land in Sawsymper area shall be dealt with by the Raid and no one else.
The Congress legislator said that the present Syiem brought out an order on August 26, 2020 to validate and confirm the agreement signed between the Hima and the Raid Sawsymper on September 15, 1944 and stated that he honours the agreement.
Shangpliang also said that on July 25, 2019 the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) had passed an amendment bill to include Raid Sawsymper within the ambit and scope of the Maharam Act, in compliance with the agreement of 1944 signed by the elders of the Raid which was duly confirmed by the Syiem of Hima Maharam, where Section 2 states – “provided that in Raid Sawsymper, the Act shall apply in matter relating to village administration only and not on land regulation.”
In his reply, District Council Affairs Minister Lahkmen Rymbui informed that, as none of the amendment bills have received the assent of the Governor, the provisions of the principal acts continue to have effect.
“The instant subject matter is beyond the purview of the provisions of the principal act and appears to be rather covered by the Maharam Syiemship (Administration) Rules, which are made by the Executive Durbar and approved by the Executive Committee, as empowered by Section 9 of the principal act,” the minister said.
Rymbui said that the rules were not presented to the Governor for his assent and the stipulations contained therein under are not known to the government.
He said that the KHADC has been requested for its views on the matter but no communication has been received till date.
