Syiems and other traditional leaders of the indigenous peoples of Meghalaya should be allocated a certain number of seats in the district councils, the Hynñiewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) has told Governor Satya Pal Malik.
In a letter today, HITO said that including Syiems, Lyngdohs, Dollois, Sirdars and Wahadars, would be in keeping with the original agreements that brought the Khasi states into the Indian Union following independence from British rule.
HITO has urged Malik to take its suggestions to the central government as part of the Centre’s move to amend the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which directly applies to tribal Meghalaya.
The pressure group also said that it is necessary for the district councils to be depoliticised, i.e., that MDCs not be affiliated to any political party, as was mandated for Dorbar Shnongs. Currently, the KHADC, at least, is used as a stepping stone for aspiring MLAs as a first step or as a consolation for failed MLAs.
HITO also suggested that the terms of the district councils be reduced to four years from five, that the councils should be in session for 20 days a month and, most novel of all, that the electorate be given the power to vote out sitting MDCs through what is known as recall elections midway through a term. It also called for a small number of “at large” MDCs who would be elected not based on a fixed constituency, as well as the need for delimitation of existing seats.
