SHILLONG:
Deputy Chief Minister in-charge district council affairs Prestone Tynsong said on Tuesday that the state government was in the final stage of drawing up recommendations for amendment to the Sixth Schedule.
Tynsong informed he had asked the three district councils of the state to meet and give the government their own recommendations.
The deputy chief minister told reporters that the government too has a problem with the issues of village councils and unrepresented tribes.
“Very soon we are going to sit with them (district councils) then the final draft of the recommendations will be sent to the government of India,” Tynsong said.
It may be mentioned that the three ADCs – Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo – held a joint meeting on Monday at the conference hall of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), and opposed the inclusion of ‘unrepresented tribe’ and ‘village council’ in the proposed amendments to the Sixth Schedule to the Indian Constitution.
The three ADCs have agreed to have a proposed village development council instead of a village council while remaining opposed to unrepresented tribes.
Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, Chief Executive Member, Titosstarwell Chyne said that according to the proposed amendment, the village council will dilute the powers and functions of the traditional institutions.