The Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei (LKSK) met Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) CEM Titostarwell Chyne to push through with their demand of inclusion of women in decision making particularly in the traditional institutions of the Khasi community, such as the Dorbar Shnongs.
The LKSK, an apex body comprising 28 women’s organisations in East Khasi Hills District, led by its President Theilin Phanbuh met Chyne on March 29 with a memorandum on the demand.
“We have been raising this issue since 2011. In the past women were allowed to be decision makers in the local dorbar, but we want the district council to come up with a law so that things are streamlined,” LKSK General Secretary Tentiness Swer said today.
The organisation felt that the time is ripe for change since the Seng Kyntheis/ Seng Longkmies of various dorbars do lend a hand in any issue concerning their respective dorbars.
The issue of female representation in Dorbar Shnongs and other traditional governance bodies of the Khasi community has been a vexed one for many years now. According to custom, women are not allowed to participate in the local dorbar.
In December last year, the organisation held a threadbare discussion on the subject because it feels that if women are part of the decision making process, they can deal with any situation accordingly.
As it is women are already breaking stereotypes as many of them are either part of the state legislature, senior members of the bureaucracy and also members of the autonomous district councils.
The LKSK also carried out a small survey of its own which found that men, in general, had no problem with women’s participation in the local dorbar but they also felt that it needed the go-ahead from the district council first.
