Sir, on 24th March,
2017, I have participated in this Private Members’ Bill brought by my friend
Mr. Vincent Pala to amend the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India in
its application to constitution of District Councils and Regional Councils
where the amendments were proposed for increasing the members from 30 to 40 and
also the traditional occupations of the tribals including occupations relating
to mines and minerals, very particularly in Meghalaya within the Khasi District
Council. Broadly, I am in agreement with this proposed amendment. But Sir, the
need for amendment of this provision of the Constitution does not end here
because this Sixth Schedule has come into existence in 1952 that is from the
very beginning or from the inception of the Constitution under Article 244(2)
and Article 275(1). Now, under this provision of the Sixth Schedule,140
ten District Councils are being governed. In Meghalaya, there are three
District Councils; in Assam ,
there are three District Councils;160 in Mizoram, there are
three District Councils, and in Tripura, there is one District Council. But
Sir, the Sixth Schedule is aiming at the section of people who are tribals or Adivasis.
They are not residing only in these four States.
In India ,
there is about 12 crore Adivasi population and within the North Eastern States
also, there are some other States where tribals are residing like in Manipur
and also in Arunachal Pradesh. And within Assam
also, there are a number of other Adivasi communities or Adivasi groups. So,
today, after 65 or 67 years of enactment of this provision or this Act, we have
to revisit or relook at the entire thing as to how far this provision280
has met or brought the changes to the lives of the Adivasis or the tribals in
these particular District Councils and in particular, the four States and also
in other States. That is why, what I would like to submit320
here is that today this Sixth Schedule has some legislative and judicial powers
and also very limited executive powers.
But, in the present
scenario, with just these two provisions, with limited judicial and executive
powers, no marginalized section of population can survive. It does require
further amendments and a revisit. So, how come the contours of the Sixth
Schedule could be expanded to take care of social and economic development of
this section of population? Sir, as I mentioned earlier, through the passage of
the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution in 1992, certain functions
have been devolved in420 non-Scheduled areas, where Fifth
Schedule and Sixth Schedule are not implemented. That means, people at the
rural level have got a structure, where they could participate in the process
of planning as well as in the process of implementation. That has created some
kind of a sensation in the rural population of our country and a kind of sense
of480 belonging with the country. Sir, I would like to say
that this sense is very much missing in the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. That
is why, today it has to be seen, without copying the 73rd and 74th Amendments,
as to how this kind of a structure can be devolved at the village level, at the
district level and at the intermediate level considering the social and
cultural aspects of tribal communities in hilly regions. Simultaneously, for
the participation560 of the common people through the process
of election, not only in Parliament or State Assembly but also at the village
and intermediate level, an electoral body has to be constituted. Moreover,
systems like fixation of accountability and audit, as has been done in other
areas, should be implemented in the ADC areas also. That is why, it is very
much essential today to revisit everything. Sir, we have Tripura Tribal Areas
Autonomous District Council in our State. Two-thirds of640
the entire Tripura State
Another lacuna or
handicap is that three-tier panchayat system is not applicable to the States
which are covered under the Sixth Schedule. Any ADC or any other Council does
not receive any fund directly as per the recommendation of the Finance
Commission. It is a kind of deprivation, whether it800 is
Tripura, Meghalaya or Assam
because the mandatory provision of the Finance Commission is that there must be
an elected body. So, there is a provision to give them funds from the erstwhile
Planning Commission and now the NITI Aayog.840 Shri Arjun
Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance is here. During the last financial year,
Rs. 1,000 crore had been allotted to these ten ADCs, but this year, the
allocation has been slashed to Rs. 500 crore. The allocation should have been
increased by 20, 25 or 30 per cent, but it has been decreased by 50 per cent.
What kind of justice has been done? This is a very important thing. I would
like to mention this aspect again.
Sir, what I would
like to tell is that this amendment to the Sixth Schedule is being discussed
and debated for the last more than one decade. It happened even during the time
of the UPA Government. From the Ministry960 of Home Affairs,
suggestions from the State Governments had been sought and almost all the
States – Tripura , Assam 20th March, 2015 during the Budget Session, I had raised
a question and got the reply that it was under the consideration of the Cabinet
and the Cabinet would take a decision.
It was said that in
the Budget Session of 2015-2016 itself this amendment will be brought; it will
be passed; and it will be implemented. Now, we are1120 in the
year 2017 and there is no sign of the Home Ministry bringing this amendment. It
is very much disappointing. Sir, the main framework was conceived during the
early 1950s. So, in the early 1950s there were so many things that were not
there like half of the Ministries were not born at that time. Hence, it is automatically
the aspiration of the people. Now, I was mentioning that the tribals are not
living only in these four States. There are tribals in Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh, Odisha -- in the mainland where there are more than 11 crore of them
and I am coming to that issue also. I would now like to particularly mention
about Manipur. In Manipur, there are 16 Districts and out of these 16 Districts
including the newly constituted District, in nine or ten Districts1260
tribals have the majority. In Manipur, there are 33 recognized Scheduled Tribe
communities including sub-tribes, and 41.1 per cent of1280
the total population is tribals. The tribals are demanding the Sixth Schedule,
the raksha kavach, since early 1970s and in the year 1974, under Article
371 (c), one such Council has been constituted, but that does not suffice to
address the need of the people. So, the demand for the Sixth Schedule since the
early 1970s is day by day not only increasing among the Adivasis because
development is not only for the Adivasis, but development is for the entire
State and the entire country. But unfortunately, the State Government and the
Central Government did not pay heed to it. Now, instead of bringing that
amendment in the Sixth Schedule, as was suggested to the Central Government,
unfortunately, the previous1400 Manipur Government brought
three legislations which created a huge controversy and a huge turmoil there.
Unfortunately, nine youth were killed.
Though it is a Private
Member Bill, I would suggest the Government that the Sixth Schedule be amended
for Manipur also.1440 Kuki, Jomi and Naga communities are
demanding that. The trend is not to allow these divisive forces, not to give
them the indulgence and not to give them the opportunity. Now, the vast
majority of those who abide by the Indian Constitution and Indian Law are
demanding it. The Government should generously come forward to extend this
Sixth Schedule in an amended form and also see as to how their socio-economic
development could be taken care of. In Arunachal Pradesh, all the communities
are tribal communities. Arunachal Pradesh is such a big State which is about
83,743 square kilometres1540 but the population is only
15,58,000 according to the 2011 census. All the population is of tribal
communities but there are very small and marginal ethnic groups which have to
protect their culture and their tradition etc. The people who belong to Mon and
Patkai have raised their demand that ADC may be constituted under the Sixth
Schedule.1597
