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| Mani Shankar Aiyar |
Shillong, March 6: The Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance government’s move to form village councils has hit hurdles with the district councils and traditional bodies at the village level opposing the move.
The village councils, once formed, will help the state avail projects under the panchayati raj, which, however, is not applicable in Meghalaya.
The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee had on February 15 formed a special committee on self-governance to set up village councils aimed at exploring the possibilities of forming an alternative body to the panchayati raj.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar who attended the meeting as a special invitee had said that the special committee on local self-governance in Meghalaya would examine how grassroots governance could benefit the people.
Since Meghalaya has autonomous district councils according to the Sixth Schedule, the state is exempted from the panchayati raj system of grassroots governance. Moreover, since panchayati raj does not exist in the state, it is unable to avail funds and schemes under the system.
However, M. Nongkrem, the chief executive member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, said that there would be a clash of powers once the village councils were formed in the name of self-governance.
Offlyn Dohling, the president of Synjuk Rangbah Shnong (association of headmen) said that the state government should have strengthened traditional institutions like the Rangbah Shnong and the district councils instead of forming another grassroots body, which according to him would only bring about confusion.
“The attempt to form another body in the state will also take away the powers of the headmen and the district councils which in the long run will result in conflicts,” he added.
The chairman of the Assembly of Hynniewtrep Nations, John Kharshiing, also expressed doubts over the viability of a new institution in the context of Meghalaya having other traditional institutions. However, the state Congress leaders have stressed that the system of village development councils in Nagaland co-existed with all the traditional customs and institutions of the state.
H.S. Shylla, the chairman of Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan in Meghalaya, said besides the Centre and the state government, the third tier of governance was yet to materialise in Meghalaya in its true sense.