The other districts where more than 100 languages are spoken are Dimapur of Nagaland (103) and Sonitpur of Assam (101), says the analysis by Shamika Ravi, a non-resident senior fellow of Brookings Institution, and Mudit Kapoor, associate professor of economics at Indian Statistical Institute.

The list of districts where more than 90 languages are heard includes Jalpaiguri in Bengal (98), East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya (96), South West Delhi (97), Karbi Anglong in Assam (95), Pune (93), and Darjeeling (91).

Mumbai suburban has 88 languages.

The least diverse districts include Yanam (Puducherry), Kaimur (Bhabua, Bihar), Kaushambi and Kanpur Dehat (UP), and Ariyalur (Tamil Nadu). In these districts, less than 20 languages are spoken.

In Bengaluru, the total percentage of people who speak Kannada is 44%. The other major languages include Tamil (15%), Telugu (14%), Urdu (12%), Hindi (6%), Malayalam (3%), Marathi (2%), Konkani (0.6%), Bengali (0.6%) and Odia (0.5%). Languages like Pochury, Kondh, Sangtam, and Wancho have the least number of speakers.

The authors point out that the census covers all languages irrespective of the size of the population that speaks it. Linguistic diversity refers to mobility and, in turn, economic outcomes. “Mobility is a good marker for economic dynamism… Language is a good proxy for talent. When people speaking very different languages are coming to one place, the driving force is economy and job opportunities. The language tree for Bengaluru shows there are people from far and wide,” said Shamika Ravi.

She also pointed out that while 100-plus languages is a lot, melting pots like New York feature 600-plus languages.

The post UNITY IN DIVERSITY – Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri Rank Among the Districts With Most Diverse Languages – North East Leads, Bengaluru Tops the List appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

The stability and efficiency of administrative machinery will depend on the degree of autonomy that exists between its 3 wings i.e. the Legislative, Judicial and the Executive. These three wings have to co-exist symbiotically and harmoniously if the superstructure has to survive.

This schedule identifies and designates certain tribal areas as autonomous districts within the governance framework extended through the constitution of District Councils and Regional Councils. These locally elected councils are endowed with legislative, judicial, executive and financial powers.

However, several questions have been raised with respect to their autonomy. How autonomous are these Autonomous councils? Do these councils really enjoy complete legislative, judicial and financial autonomy as claimed by some or its just a paper tiger, opium for the masses? These are some of the pressing issues which I will try and address maintaining complete political neutrality and without prejudice to any political party or its spokesman. The objective of this write up is not to hurt the political sentiments of many, but to shed light and bring out facts, in a most lucid way, on provisions that pertain to the 6th schedule of our constitution.

(1) 6th Schedule District Council has Legislative Autonomy:

Correct, the council is empowered to make laws on certain subjects, however, this power is subject to the powers conferred on to the Governor under Article 163. A Bill passed by the council under 6th schedule will become an Act only once the Governor gives his assent. The Governor, on the other hand, though a Central Government appointee, is bound, under Article 163, to act in accordance to the aid and advice tendered by the Council of Minister headed by the Chief Minister, which means that even if a Bill is passed by a District Council but is not agreed to by the Chief Minister, the CM can advise the Governor not to give his assent and the Governor has no option but to oblige as he is constitutionally bound to do so( Article 163). In other words, every bill passed by the council can be blocked by the CM acting indirectly through the Governor.

Again under Paragraph 15 of the 6th schedule, the CM acting through the Governor can annul or suspend any act or resolution of the District and Regional council if the said act or Resolution is likely to endanger the “safety of India” or be prejudicial to “public order”. Words like “public order” and “safety of India” are too vague, subjective and not defined in the constitution thereby giving unfettered power to the CM to suspend or annul the acts or resolutions of the District and Regional councils, which again compels us to question the legality of the council’s legislative autonomy.

Moreover, as the constitution prescribes no definite time frame within which the Governor has to give his assent to a bill passed by the council, the Governor can exercise his Pocket Veto and sit on a Bill indefinitely without expressing his mind killing the bill once and for all.

(2) The District Council has Judicial Autonomy:

Partly correct, under Paragraph 4 of the 6th schedule under the heading ” Administration of Justice in Autonomous Districts and Autonomous Regions ” the councils are empowered to constitute Village Councils and Courts for the trial of suits and cases, both civil and criminal, but only when the aggrieved parties involved are members of scheduled tribe. For a case involving a dispute between members of non-tribals the aggrieved still has to get their injury redressed through the normal hierarchy of courts starting from the District Court, which is cumbersome, time-consuming and extremely expensive beyond the reach of a common man.

Again, Sub Para 2 of Paragraph 4 of the 6th schedule empowers the Regional council, District Councils or any Court to act as ” COURTS OF APPEAL” with respect to all cases and suites triable by the Village Council or Court as the case may be, but such appeals can only be admitted with respect to disputes between members of ST. For any regular appeal from the District Court involving a non-tribal one still has to go to the High Court, in Kolkatta for relief, which again is very expensive.

The ultimate death knell to Judicial Autonomy comes from sub-para 3 of paragraph 4, which states that the judicial powers of the Councils ( Regional council, District councils or Village councils or courts) are subject to the supervision and control of the Governor acting through the High courts, not to forget that the Governor is again bound by the aid and advice of the CM( Article 163). So, in reality, the Judicial powers of the District or Regional council are in actuality the Judicial powers of the CM.

(3) The District Council has Executive Autonomy i.e. Functional, Operational and Financial Autonomy.

The tripartite Memorandum of Settlement ( MoS) signed in 1988 specifically mentions that-all All India Service officers – IAS, IPS and Indian forest service, including the DM and the SP and all the officers of the West Bengal Government on deputation will remain outside the control of the Council. The council can only RECOMMEND suitable action against them to the state government, the recommendation being pure of non-binding nature to the state government. This means there will be 3 different class of officers in the 6th schedule Area with conflicting allegiance and accountability. At the top is the All India Service members under the control of the centre with immediate control lying with the state government, next in the hierarchy – officers of West Bengal answerable only to the State Government and finally in the lowest rank lies the officers recruited by the District Council who are responsible to the council. With the top two layers of officials totally outside the control of the District Council, I wonder how the council will manage to get its executive work done smoothly without any roadblock and red tape. To make matters worse the MoS has given the sole executive authority, including the sanctioning power to the Principal Secretary who is generally an IAS.

It’s said that the one who controls the purse controls the system. With every development project requiring the sanction of the Principal Secretary who is under the immediate control of the State Government and all funds being routed through the state government the much-hyped Financial Autonomy of the council will definitely go for a toss.

With the State government, directly or indirectly, enjoying overriding power over the Council and the council having to continuously beg for funds to the State government, it is but obvious that the much-popularised executive and financial autonomy is no different than the one we had under the erstwhile DGHC and the one we presently have under GTA ie. Status quo remains.

(4) The District Council is Inclusive with a balanced representation from all the communities.

To answer this question we need to comparatively look at the representation in terms of numbers of seats reserved for members of different communities to the total number of members in the Lok sabha, various State legislative assemblies and prevalent councils functioning under the 6th schedule.

In the case of Lok sabha, we have 47 seats reserved for ST out of a total of 545 members. Which means around 8% of seats are reserved for STs which is fairly reasonable considering their total population in India.

If we look at the state assemblies we have Bihar with roughly around 8% seats reserved for STs which is the highest and west Bengal around 6% reserved for STs which again seems fair enough.

Now If we look at the Memorandum of Settlement that was signed between the Government of India, Government of West Bengal and GNLF on 1988, it clearly states that there will be a total of 33 elected seats in the council and 13 seats out of 33 will be reserved for the STs alone, which is a whopping 30% reservation, with ZERO or NO reservation to the members of Schedule caste. How can the proponents of 6th schedule claim that the council has a balanced representation when even a layman with scanty mathematical prowess can figure out that this council is designed specifically to promote the welfare of only one community with the total exclusion of Schedule caste? No way the council is inclusive.

The situation gets even worse in Assam. The Bodoland model which we keep on referring to in all our discourse has a total of 30 seats out of 46 reserved for STs alone, which is almost 65% seats reserved for STs and only 5 for non-tribals.

(5) A BIll passed by the District Council will be an act only when the President gives his assent.

There is this myth doing the rounds that A Bill passed by the Council will become an Act only after the President gives his assent thereby bypassing the State Government, ensuring legislative autonomy.

This again is only partly true as a closer look at sub-para 3A of paragraph 3 under the heading ” Powers of District Council and Regional Council to make laws “will reveal a different story. Sub para 3A was added by the 6th Schedule Amendment act 1995 and is applicable only to the 6th schedule areas of Assam namely North Chachar Hills and Karbi Anglong Autonomous councils. This sub-para specifically states that only those laws relating to matters in List 3 of the 7th schedule shall be submitted forthwith to the Governor who shall reserve the same for the consideration of the President.

List 3 of the 7th schedule is known as Concurrent List which includes matters on which both the Center and State Government can make laws, the legislative immunity of the 6th schedule council from the state government is therefore limited only on matters that are present in the Concurrent List and not on all matters. If any law is to make with respect to any other matters falling in any of the other two lists namely the Union and the State list, then such a bill will again require the mandatory Gubernatorial assent before becoming an Act.

(6) Income tax exemptions are given under the 6th schedule:

Partly true, under Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act 1961, income tax exemptions are given from (1) any sources (2) by way of dividend and interest, but only to the members of ST living within the 6th schedule Area and in some North-Eastern states (like Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura ) but not to non-tribals. This shows that the 6th schedule provisions definitely favour one community over the other as only members of ST are exempt from IT payment.

(7) 6th Schedule areas will get funds directly from the Central government i.e from CFI (Consolidated Fund of India).

Yes indeed, under Article 275 (1) grant in aids also know as Statutory Grants will be given by the Parliament through law, on the recommendation of the Finance Commission and charged on the Consolidated Fund of India ( CFI) but not solely for the development of the Scheduled Areas but a major chunk of the funds is given to meet the cost of schemes of development as may be undertaken by the state for the purpose of promoting the welfare of the Scheduled tribes. Which means a major percentage of the funds will be utilized for the promotion of the STs and not the area in general. Not to forget that such funds are routed via the State Government which can create numerous hurdles as had happened numerous times before with DGHC and GTA.

With a majority ( around 65% )of Darjeeling population still comprising of non-tribals (including the schedule casts) and the RGIs recent rejection to include 11 communities from Darjeeling as ST, I wonder how wise it is to vouch for an administrative setup that the constitution itself without any ambiguity, in clear and unequivocal words, in Article 244(2) defines it to be for the “Administration and Control of Tribal Areas”.

It goes without saying that Superimposing an administrative setup meant for the welfare of tribals in an area where the majority are still non-tribals and schedule castes, may just put all of us at the thin end of the wedge.

Moreover, the overriding powers enjoyed by the state government acting through the governor or officers subordinate to him, impeds and defeats the very purpose of granting Legislative, Judicial and Executive Autonomy to the councils.

Writes: Phinjo W Gurung

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On Saturday, a picture shared by Ram Singh on Facebook went viral. The pic shows him buying vegetables from a local market near Tura, a traditional bamboo basket slung over his shoulder.

“21kgs of weekend organic Vegetable shopping, No plastic, no vehicular pollution, no traffic jam, Fit India, Fit Meghalaya, Eat Organic, Clean & Green Tura, POSHAN, 10km morning walk..” wrote Mr Singh while sharing the picture.

His Facebook post has collected over 2,000 ‘likes’ and dozens of comments, with many praising his dedication towards going green.

Meanwhile, another Facebook post applauding his initiative has also collected a number of appreciative comments.

“This is the new face of Indian Bureaucracy. I am inspired,” wrote Robert G Lyngdoh on Facebook, sharing two pictures of Mr Singh.

“His humility and dedication to the work and the people is truly an inspiration,” wrote one person in the comments section. “Inspiring. Simple living and high thinking,” said another.

Speaking to EastMojo, Mr Singh said that he started walking to the market to inspire people complaining about traffic in Tura.

“Many complained that it was difficult to walk carrying loads of vegetables. I had suggested them to carry ‘Kokcheng’ (a local bamboo basket) which would even help fight the plastic menace. But they just laughed it off,” he said. “So my wife and I headed to the market carrying the bamboo basket which I found it to be very helpful in many ways. Many of the youths these days aren’t fit and fine. I feel that they should start walking and control their diet.”

“I have been doing this for the past six months,” Mr Singh added to the New Indian Express. “I feel modern challenges need traditional solutions. If we go by traditional ways, we can stay fit.”

This article was originally posted here.

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As per the reports, problems started when workers of a local firm M/S Dhar Construction began erecting electric poles in Umlai, near Langpih in preparation for a Church even next month. Assam Police, on receiving the information went to stop the construction in the dispute area and arrested two workers, following which the villagers started protesting and pelted stones at the police personnel. The police force in retaliation resorted to lathi-charge injuring several villagers.

In a complaint lodged with the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC), the Congress legislature, Kimfa Marbañiang and a local organization Hynñiewtrep Youth Council (HYC) alleged violation of human rights and grievous assaults by Assam police. “Assam police have violated human rights by hitting the villagers including women, and there were no women police at the place of occurrence,” the MLA said.

Marbañiang, the MLA said that he visited the area after hearing of the incident on Thursday, but as he went to discuss the matter with the Assam police personnel at the location, he was confronted by residents of the area from the Gorkha (Nepali) community, who he alleged disrupted his discussion with the police. “I had a heated argument with them (Nepalee residents) because they were interrupting my discussion with the Assam police,” Marbañiang alleged.

In a video that surfaced over the social media, the MLA is seen threatening some Gorkha youths to leave the place and “Go to Nepal.” Langpih, a picturesque village bordering West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya and Kamrup (rural) district of Assam has historically been a bone of contention between Meghalaya and Assam, with both the states staking claim over the area.

In the widely circulated video, the local youths can be heard protesting against the MLA calling them Nepali and threatening them with ‘go to Nepal.’ The agitated youths can be heard reminding the MLA about some earlier exodus of Gorkha settlers and questioning the MLA where was he at the time. Strongly protesting against the MLA calling them Nepali, the youths can be heard saying “we are Indian Gorkhas and not Nepali and this part of Langpih is Assam. You cannot threaten us to leave Langpih, we are not Nepali but Gorkha. Why did you call us Nepali? This is Assam, and we are Gorkhas.”

The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K Sangma said that he has received information of the clash. “There were some arguments and then some stone pelting took place, then Assam police resorted to lathi-charge,” He said the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) of West Khasi Hills district have spoken to their counterparts in Assam and requested the release of the two arrested persons.

The bigger question that arises after the incident is “How could the MLA, a public representative who had gone to hold discussions with Assam Police end up in a verbal dual with local residents using unparliamentary language and derogatory remarks against a community? Whether by accident or intentionally, the MLA seems to have flared up communal tension with his caustic remarks. Such unchecked temperament and remarks can only create a sense of mistrust and of insecurity among the residents who live in the area.

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