The three autonomous district councils in Meghalaya are facing a range of challenges in the present day and more research and work needs to be done in order to make them better engines of governance, MDC in the JHADC, A Andrew Shullai, said today.
Shullai, who unsuccessfully ran for the Jowai seat in the state Assembly recently, said this in his keynote address at a one day seminar held at Assam University in Silchar.
The seminar was organised by the university’s Department of Political Science on the theme ‘Institutions, Politics and Political Processes in Fifth and Sixth Schedule Regions of India’.
The seminar had two main technical sessions where eight papers were presented by senior professors, scholars and research students from the North East.
Shullai was invited to speak in order for the students to learn through the real experiences of institutions and politics.
In his address, Shullai shared his official and personal experiences with the working and functioning of the autonomous district council in Jaintia Hills.
As he has occupied the post of Chief Executive Member as well as leader of the opposition in the legislative body of the council, he pointed out the practical challenges these institutions faced. He further stressed that the relevance and lack of it will depend upon how the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution is being considered by the state government.
Paragraph 12 of the Sixth Schedule (which concerns the applicability of state laws in areas falling under the district council and the applicability of district council laws that clash with those of the state) has been very contentious for the smooth function of the councils, a press release on the seminar stated.
The inapplicability of the anti-defection to the councils is a major challenge when it comes to the stability of this institution, Shullai added. Furthermore, overlapping power sharing has often reduced the authority of the councils. In the context of Meghalaya, Shullai gave the example of how the management of schools and the implementation of SSA in the state is being carried out by the state government. Due to the councils not being able to run primary schools anymore, he argued that this has led to lack of space to ensure the development of indigenous languages in the state.
Shullai asked academics to explore and carry out in-depth studies on the Sixth Schedule and the possibility of making these institutions more effective so that members of autonomous councils can be spurred on by new ideas and challenges to ensure that they are effective, efficient and also dynamic.
He also hoped that, with the amendments being considered by the central government and the committee examining the ways to make these institutions more relevant in changing times, he believed that many of the lacunae in the councils will be addressed.
