North-East Autonomous Councils

Context:
Recently, Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in Rajya Sabha to increase the financial and executive powers of the 10 Autonomous Councils in the Sixth Schedule areas.



About 6th schedule:

  • 6th schedule deals with the administration of the tribal areas in four north-eastern states of Assam,Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
  • They are treated differently by the constitution because the tribes in these states have not assimilatedmuch the life and ways of the other people in these states.
  • The tribal areas in these states have been constituted as autonomous districts, each of which has anautonomous district council consisting of 30 members. Currently, there are 10 such councils.
  • Some of the powers and functions of autonomous councils include:
  • They can make laws on certain specified matters like land, forest, canal water, shifting cultivation, inheritance of property, marriage, divorce etc. These require assent of the governor.
  • They can constitute village councils or courts within their jurisdiction, for trials of suits and cases betweenthe tribes.
  • They can establish, construct or manage primary schools, dispensaries, markets, ferries, fisheries, roadsand so on in the district.
  • They can make regulations for the control of money lending and trading by non-tribals, but these require the assent of the governor.
  • They are empowered to assess and collect land revenue and to impose certain specified taxes.

Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

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