Context:

The revival of the demand for two autonomous councils has made the state government of Arunachal Pradesh bring the state under the Sixth Schedule.

The Sixth Schedule

• According to Article 244(2) of the Indian Constitution, the Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas.
  • Assam
  • Meghalaya
  • Tripura
  • Mizoram
• Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of the tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
  • ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.
• The governors of these states can reorganize the boundaries of the tribal areas.
  • Create a new autonomous district.
  • Include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.
  • Alter or change the names of autonomous regions.

The demands

• The demand is to bring Arunachal Pradesh under the ambit of the Sixth Schedule and amend Article 371(H) to protect the rights of its indigenous population.
• This would provide special rights to all Arunachalees on matters of religious and social practices, customary law, land (ownership, transfer, and control), etc under the Indian Constitution. The current governing structure in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Fifth Schedule: The Frontier State of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Bhutan, China, and Myanmar is under the Fifth Schedule that “does not provide special rights for the indigenous communities” unlike the Sixth Schedule.
• Article 371H: entrusts the governor with special responsibility with respect to law and order.

Arunachal Pradesh is demanding rights at par with Nagaland under Article 371A

• Article 371A: Nagaland, on the other hand, is governed by Article 371A, which states that no Act of Parliament shall apply in the State in several areas unless the Nagaland Assembly so decides by a resolution.
• These include administrations.
  • These include administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law and ownership and transfer of land and its resources.

Autonomous districts and regional councils

• Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils for each area constituted as an autonomous region.
• In all, 10 areas in the Northeast are registered as autonomous districts –
  • Three in Assam, Meghalaya, and Mizoram each
  • One in Tripura
• These regions are named as district council of (name of district) and regional council of (name of region).
• Each autonomous district and regional council consists of not more than 30 members, of which four are nominated by the governor and the rest via elections. All of them remain in power for a term of five years.
• The Bodoland Territorial Council, however, is an exception as it can constitute up to 46 members out of which 40 are elected.