Shillong, Aug 24: The members of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) have raised objections to certain recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) of Home Affairs on the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2019, on the grounds that they go against the interest of the Council.
“All the MDCs have unanimously endorsed the decision of the Executive Committee not to accept certain recommendations made by PSC on the ground that they are affecting the interest of the Council,” KHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM), Titosstarwell Chyne told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting of all Members of District Council (MDC).
He said they have adopted a resolution urging the state government to accept and send their views and suggestions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in this regard for its necessary consideration.
Chyne informed that the resolution will be submitted to the state government during a meeting to be convened by the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday to take final decisions related to the proposed amendment of the Sixth Schedule.
KHADC has raised objections on the proposed increase in number of seats in each ADC to 40, representation of the unrepresented tribes in the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs), introduction of the village council/municipal council among others.
Proposed increase in seats
“We have made it very clear that if the number of seats is increased to 40, it will affect the functioning of the council due to geographical conditions as well as financially keeping in mind its limited resources to generate revenue. Therefore, we cannot accept this proposal,” Chyne said.
The CEM however admitted that there are constituencies like Mawlai, Nongstoin, Mawryngkneng and Jirang – which need delimitation.
“Therefore we reiterated our stand on the need to increase the number of seats to 37 of which 35 are elected and 2 will be nominated members one of which will be reserved for women,” he added.
Unrepresented Tribes
On the issue of unrepresented tribes, Chyne said the KHADC has strongly suggested deletion of this word from the proposed amendment.
“This is because of the fact that there are many tribes and it is impossible for the Council to accommodate all of them for nomination as members of the Council. In view of this, we feel that it is better to avoid mentioning the names of the tribes as far as nomination of members is concerned,” he asserted.
Village and Municipal Council
Regarding the village and municipal council, Chyne said the KHADC has strongly opposed this move as it is against the customary practices of the indigenous people and demanded that the age-old traditional institutions be given recognition in the Constitution.
Amendment to Para 12A(b) of Sixth Schedule
“We also demand removal of the word President in Para 12A(b) of the Sixth Schedule and to replace it by the word Governor so that power to implement or not to implement central laws will be left to the Governor,” he said.
Suggestions sought from ADCs
The state government, based on the direction of the MHA, had again sought the views and suggestions of the three Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) before submitting its views to the Centre by August 31.
The PSC had also taken the views and suggestions of all stakeholders during its visit to the state in December, 2019. However, the PSC had allegedly failed to incorporate the views and suggestions given by the state government and the three ADCs.
