The mandate of the Election Commission of India complies with the aspirations of the people and the society at large, unlike the hidden agenda of the political parties; therefore, such endeavour could be collaborated with or patronised by the Election Commission to bring about positive changes and lessen the burden of the Union Government as well as the State Government. The contemporary situation in society regarding the Dorbar Shnong is that it lacks proper participation of the public. Therefore, the suggestions pointed out earlier will encourage more participation, and even regulation could be imposed with a certain legal mechanism to ensure public involvement for the benefit of the people and society. Another aspect of the reality that prevails in the society is the intention and persuasion of the government to hold the election of Ward Commissioners in the Urban conglomerate, which was persistently resisted and rejected by the people, particularly the indigenous inhabitants. This is the colonial administrative machinery that posed danger to the welfare of the indigenous inhabitants and fomented communal division between the different communities, which could be abolished forthwith. Moreover, the role of the Durbar Shnong is a time-tested mechanism that has proven effective and relevant for the overall welfare of the entire residents, even as the privilege of authority is retained by the local inhabitants.
The diversity of communities in the country has facilitated the convention that the original inhabitants of certain territories asserted administrative authority and control over the major issues of their respective State. However, there are favourable exceptions that certain civil service officials from the other territory that earned the trust and confidence of the local populace based on their honesty and integrity. But the undesirable indulgence of some dominant community over the underprivileged community in every aspect of civil administration leaves a sore of discontentment, insecurity, and hatred among the communities, which is not healthy for the society and the nation as a whole. The recurring mob fury that is happening throughout history till recent times reflected the system of governance that is not reliable. Democracy that every individual has the liberty to act with their whims and fancies and is vulnerable to the connivance with the vested interest section of the society will take control over the majority of innocent civilians in the society. There will be too many references to mention from the freedom struggle to the attainment of independence and the recurring chaos and commotions that is happening time and again in the country, which could be the reason for this imported idea of democracy from the occidental world.
Therefore, it is pertinent to elaborate on the function of the Khasi folk democracy with further exploration, analysis and scrutiny of the effectiveness and relevancy of the present scenario. The fully centralised and fully decentralised power in society is dangerous for both the privileged people in power and the deprived section of society. The powerful will never hesitate to misuse their power for selfish motives, and the deprived lot will never cease to be deficient and demand more, while the middle class will want not just some more from both sides, but they will desire everything, and that is human nature. Hence, it could be worth exploring the essence and functioning of the Khasi folk democratic system and considering an experiment in phases. The Khasi folk democracy is an ideal blend of centralised and decentralised power in governance. The mob fury and crowd mentality will never have any breathing space in the process of administration, because excellence and justice of the refined participants in the administration are being chosen with care and consensual clarity right from the family council, the clan council, the block level council, the village and locality council, the constituency council before it correlates with the prevalent and legitimate machinery of the State Legislative Assembly election process.
The State Legislative Assembly is the bigger picture in the overall civil administration in the State. The same pattern could be more relevant if it is operated for the Autonomous District Council Election also. Further, if the provision of the law permits, the Autonomous District Council could adopt this method. In the National Parliament, the process of the upper house or Rajya Sabha and the lower house or Lok Sabha could be a mismatch in practice, because the Lok Sabha is encumbered with every individual voter in a massive populace, which concerns effective management of complex problems in the process, while the Rajya Sabha is susceptible to the sponsorship of the political party in power instead of merit and legitimacy. There has always been a hue and cry all over the country on the allegation of corruption, nepotism, money laundering, and communal politics that prevailed at every nook and corner of the country right from the top echelon of national parties, and regional parties up to the district and local level functionaries that percolated throughout the entire electorate. There are also several allegations on political parties with petty partisan roles fomented divisive forces even among the family members, the localities, the communities, the religious groups, the tribal ethnic with the mainstream communities, and so on and so forth. The colonial tactic of divide and rule still prevailed in every section of society.
The Khasi folk democracy is a system without political parties and is rooted in the clan system of representation at a different level of administrative units. In the present context, it can be locality or village-based representatives that will address precise concerns of the particular territory and specific segment of the society. It can abolish the tradition of certain privileged clans and make a public platform for every legible and meritorious member of the particular territory. The privilege of any elected representative lies in the leadership acumen and integrity of the individual, to be selected by the congregation of all the elected representatives without any party affiliation. The executive council shall be selected by consensus of all representatives based on certain criteria of educational qualification, experience, and credibility in public affairs. In this manner, there is quality and reliability of the top functionaries in the government. If any allegation of negative traits is noticed on any privileged member, he or she should be brought to justice instantly within a time frame without delay by the public assembly with the scrutiny of the judiciary and the propagation of the media. Meanwhile, the executive council shall induct a new member based on merit, while the alleged member may remain a representative of his constituency but deprived of the privilege at the executive council until he or was acquitted by the court of law and resumption of privilege could be restored with the concurrence of the executive council. This could be the more suitable mechanism to ensure quality leadership, containment of corruption, and prevention of nepotism and avoid political and economic, and communal influence.
Every developmental activity and category of beneficiaries will be channelised through the local council with the knowledge of every segment of the administrative machinery. In this way, there will not be any discrimination in every community and every legitimate individual, household, locality, or village and constituency will avail the fair share of benefits according to their genuine and reasonable rights. India is the land of communal diversity and there is an element of natural justice that every community of a particular territory asserts for regional conscientiousness of certain legitimate rights, which the migrants are liable to be content with their own struggle and capacity of sustainable livelihood. This is an open secret that is being practiced and prevailing all over India and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is candid and vocal about this issue. Therefore, instead of fomenting communal conflict, it could be legitimised with the provision of the law to retain the territorial privilege of the indigenous people and consider the entry of migrants into the system with merit and acceptance of the local community. There is already an apprehension and speculation of injustice with the imposition of the uniform civil code and the authority should allow a natural assimilation of sociocultural dynamics within the society. Constitutional protection is already in place for every citizen in the country and certain special considerations are being availed by the minority communities everywhere in the country. The deliberation is only the theory that could be analysed, scrutinised, and developed into a viable alternative for effective administration.
