The Union government will form a committee headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai to resolve the issues that have been holding up the Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019 intended to grant more financial, executive and administrative powers to tribal autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The assurance was made to the chiefs of the 10 tribal autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura, in a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, multiple council chiefs said.
The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 of the Constitution protects tribal populations, providing autonomy to them by creating autonomous development councils that can frame laws on land, public health, agriculture, etc. As of now, 10 autonomous councils exist — three each in Assam, Meghalaya, and Mizoram, and one in Tripura.
The chiefs of all the 10 councils had been camping in New Delhi over the last week in a bid to present a united front to push for the amendments and submitted a joint memorandum to Mr. Shah on Thursday asking that the Bill be passed at the earliest.
“We have been assured that this committee will be formed within one month and that it will resolve all issues that have so far held back the passage of the Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill,” Pramod Boro, the chief executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Council, told The Hindu after the half an hour meeting with the Home Minister in Parliament House.
The development has come when the Khasi and Jaintia autonomous district councils are set to go to polls later this year and elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council are due next year.
Just before entering the meeting, Mr. Boro had said that unless the amendments to the Sixth Schedule were passed to grant more autonomy, the people of these regions would “always think we are isolated, neglected, and lagging behind”. He had added that the amendments were imperative to implement several of the terms agreed upon in the 2020 Bodo Peace Accord, which promised greater autonomy for the Bodo Territorial Region.
“All of us are satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. It was a historic moment that all 10 councils came together for this,” Mr. Boro added, expressing confidence in the Union government’s will to resolve the issues that have been raised.
Pradyot Kishore Manikya, the founder of TIPRA Motha and Member of the autonomous council in Tripura, posted on X, “Met in Hon HM @AmitShah along with the leaders from the councils from the Northeast. He has assured us that within a month issues relating to all the council will be amicably addressed. A committee will be formed to solve issues relating to our people.”
In the joint memorandum submitted to the Home Minister, the councils have argued that this Bill would ensure the streamlining of the administrative system and the proper flow of resources. It would also lead to capacity building of the administrative institutions operating under the Sixth Schedule, they added.
Mr. Boro told The Hindu that the Sixth Schedule councils were facing problems in bringing policies that would benefit their people and financing them. “Many have problems with their respective State governments with respect to the allocation of finances,” he said, adding that many other councils also wanted an increase in the number of seats, more subjects to be added under their jurisdiction, among other demands.
An official of one of the autonomous councils said that a primary concern has been financing, which is being interfered with by respective State governments. “This Bill will allow the councils to directly receive funding from the Centre, submit project proposals, etc. – all of which is currently being routed through the State government,” they said.
Along with the memorandum submitted to the Home Minister, each of the 10 councils have attached a list of their respective demands, which, the councils believe, should be addressed by passing the Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019 and accordingly amending the Sixth Schedule.
The Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in Rajya Sabha in February 2019, following which it was sent to the Departmental-Related Standing Committee on Home Affairs, which had flagged multiple issues with it in a 2020 report. The Bill, however, has been pending since then.
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