A regional party in poll-bound Meghalaya has indicated that bringing the State under the purview of Article 371 could help resume rat-hole coal mining, which has been banned since April 2014.
Article 371 of the Constitution of India grants special powers to certain States.
Strong Pillar Kharjaha, one of the candidates of the Voice of the People Party (VPP), cited the example of Nagaland to seek Article 371 for Meghalaya. Specific to Nagaland, Article 371A has special provisions guaranteeing the protection of land and its resources apart from the Naga customary law and procedure.
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Mr Kharjana is contesting the Mawkhar-Pynthorumkhrah constituency of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) where elections are scheduled for February 21. Elections to the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) will also be held on the same day.
The two tribal councils have 30 seats each but elections are held in 29 while the Governor nominates a member.
Claiming that rat-hole mining is rampant in Nagaland, Mr Kharjana said the National Green Tribunal (NGT) cannot interfere with the coal mining activities in Nagaland because of Article 371A.
The NGT banned rat-hole mining in Meghalaya in 2014. The ban, upheld by the Supreme Court, was extended to other areas of the northeast.
“We understand that the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India empowers a district council to make laws on allotment of land, social custom, forest, etc., but Paragraph 12A of this schedule allows the State’s law to prevail over that of the district council if there is any conflict,” Mr Kharjaha said.
“The Centre cannot impose any central laws if we have Article 371 like Nagaland,” he said, adding that the VPP would focus on Article 371 during the 2028 Assembly elections in Meghalaya.
In February 2024, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio told the Assembly that Article 371A has been the major hurdle in the State government’s efforts to regulate small-scale illegal coal mining activities.
Counter-view
Barring the VPP and Congress, which advocated the incorporation of some provisions of Article 371 to make the Sixth Schedule more potent, the other parties agreed that the two constitutional provisions were incompatible.
“There is no possibility of Article 371 where the Sixth Schedule is in operation. The two cannot co-exist in a single system,” United Democratic Party leader and Meghalaya’s Tourism Minister, Paul Lyngdoh said after VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh argued why Meghalaya needs Article 371.
The discussions on Article 371 intensified a week after the Coal Controller under the Ministry of Coal signed three escrow agreements with the project proponents for mining sites at three locations – Pyndengshalang in West Khasi Hills, Saryngkham in West Jaintia Hills, and Lumiakhi Wahsarang in the East Jaintia Hills district.
“These agreements are a crucial step to begin scientific coal mining operations to boost the economy, provide employment opportunities, and improve the people’s livelihoods,” Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said.
Few women contestants
The KHADC and JHADC cover areas dominated by matrilineal communities — the Khasi and Jaintias respectively — but less than 7% of the candidates contesting the elections to these councils are women.
According to the data provided by the State election authority, 19 of the 272 candidates across the two councils are women. Twelve of the 158 candidates for the KHADC and seven out of 114 candidates for the JHADC are women.
Both the councils, however, have more female voters than male. While the KHADC has 5,15,247 female and 4,81,268 male voters, the JHADC has 1,61,220 female and 1,51,079 male voters. There are four third-gender voters in these councils.
February 24 is the date of counting of votes.
