Three more Councils

It is good news that the BJP-led government of Sarbananda Sonowal is soon going to constitute three separate autonomous councils for the Moran, Matak and Koch-Rajbangshi communities of the state in line with similar development councils which have been functioning for several other communities. As has been reported by this newspaper, the government has directed deputy commissioners of different districts to identify the villages where these communities constitute more than 50% of the total population in the respective districts. Once the deputy commissioners submit their reports the state government will take a final call on the Council areas. Dispur intends to set up these councils by the end of this year or the beginning of 2021, with the apparent objective of fulfilling one of the several promises made by the BJP-led alliance during the run-up to the 2016 state assembly elections. The government in fact had placed the three Bills during the last Budget session in March for constituting three separate autonomous councils, one each for the Moran, Matak and Koch-Rajbangshi communities. But then, no discussion could take place on the issue as the Budget session had to be cut short due to the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bills will now come up in the next session of the Assembly, ahead of which the deputy commissioners will have to submit their reports. As has been reported, while these Councils will have five-year terms, the Moran and Matak Councils will have 25 members each. The Koch-Rajbangshi Council will consist of 30 members. Assam has a long history of autonomous councils, with the concept and practice dating back to the time of the Ahom rulers who had granted autonomy to various communities and regions within the larger framework of the kingdom. In the post-Independence era, the Assam government first constituted several district councils way back in 1951, following which a number of councils by several nomenclatures and legal and administrative provisions have been created. Going by the official portal of the Assam government, the state as on date has two autonomous district councils (Karbi Anglong and NC Hills) and one territorial council (Bodoland) – all under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution; six statutory autonomous councils (Rabha Hasong, Mising, Tiwa, Deori, Thengal Kachari and Sonowal Kachari), and over 30 development councils for other communities. While all these councils have been constituted for accelerating the pace of social, economic, educational, ethnic and cultural development of the various communities, there is however scope and necessity to examine exactly what positive contributions these councils have brought about in the lives of people belonging to these various communities. Such stock-taking is necessary in the backdrop of allegations that these experiments have in many cases only made a few individuals rich, while the plight of the common people remains the same. It will be pertinent to compare the status of the communities with various development indicators before and after creation of these communities, with particular focus on health, education, literacy, livelihood and per capita income.