Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
Dialogue October-December, 2004, Volume 6 No. 2
Sixth Schedule and Working of the District Councils in North-Eastern States
R. N. Prasad
Under the Govt. of India Act, 1935, the hill areas of Assam were divided into two categories-Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas. The Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) the Naga Hills and the North Cachar Hills were under the excluded areas, over which the provincial ministry had no jurisdiction. Expenditure incurred in these hill areas was also not voted by the provincial legislature because there were no representatives from these hill districts. Not only this, even no federal or provincial legislation extended to the districts automatically. The Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Garo Hills, and the Mikir Hills were partially excluded areas. These districts had five representatives in the Assam Legislative Assembly but in the Garo Hills and the Mikir Hills, the franchise was limited to the traditional village headmen. Briefly, these areas were administered by the state government subject to the special powers of the Governor. This, in fact, did not change the administrative machinery of the districts. In effect the 1935 Constitution did not afford local self government or political autonomy to the hill tribes of the excluded and partially excluded areas to manage their local affairs according to their own genius and ability. No political activities of any kind in these districts were permitted. There was also no political entity, which could voice the people’s aspirations and grievances. The British Superintendent and the local chiefs in most of the districts of the excluded areas used to rule the people as virtual dictators.
After Independence, there were demands for regional autonomy and better status within the constitutional framework from the tribes of
Dr. R.N. Prasad is Professor of Public Administrative, Mizoram University, Aizawl. the hill areas of Assam. The Interim Government of India in 1947 was sensitive to the political
Sixth Schedule and Working of the District Councils in North-Eastern States
R. N. Prasad
Under the Govt. of India Act, 1935, the hill areas of Assam were divided into two categories-Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas. The Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) the Naga Hills and the North Cachar Hills were under the excluded areas, over which the provincial ministry had no jurisdiction. Expenditure incurred in these hill areas was also not voted by the provincial legislature because there were no representatives from these hill districts. Not only this, even no federal or provincial legislation extended to the districts automatically. The Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Garo Hills, and the Mikir Hills were partially excluded areas. These districts had five representatives in the Assam Legislative Assembly but in the Garo Hills and the Mikir Hills, the franchise was limited to the traditional village headmen. Briefly, these areas were administered by the state government subject to the special powers of the Governor. This, in fact, did not change the administrative machinery of the districts. In effect the 1935 Constitution did not afford local self government or political autonomy to the hill tribes of the excluded and partially excluded areas to manage their local affairs according to their own genius and ability. No political activities of any kind in these districts were permitted. There was also no political entity, which could voice the people’s aspirations and grievances. The British Superintendent and the local chiefs in most of the districts of the excluded areas used to rule the people as virtual dictators.
After Independence, there were demands for regional autonomy and better status within the constitutional framework from the tribes of
Dr. R.N. Prasad is Professor of Public Administrative, Mizoram University, Aizawl. the hill areas of Assam. The Interim Government of India in 1947 was sensitive to the political
Bibliography: 3. The Constitution of India 4. The North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971, published in Official Hand Book, Vol-2, Government of Mizoram, Aizawl, 1973 8. R.N. Prasad, Evolution of party politics in Mizoram, (IN) Political Science Review Quarterly Journal of the Department Political Science, University of Rajasthan, Vol-12 No.(3+4) 19, 1973, Jaipur. 9. R.N 10. R.N. Prasad, Government and Politics in Mizoram, New Delhi, Northern Book Centre, 1987. 11. R.N 12. Summary of Pataskar Commission Report on the Hill Areas of Assam, 1965-66. 13. S.K. Chaube, Hill Politics in North-East India, Calcutta, Orient Longman, 1973 14. Animesh Ray, Mizoram: Dynamics of Change, Calcutta, Pearl Publsihers, 1982 17. L.S. Gassah, Autonomous District Council, New Delhi, Omsons Publications, 1977. 18. R.N. Prasad, Modernisation of the Mizo Society; Imperatives and Perspective, New Delhi, Mittal Publications, 2003