Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 221/15

NOKMAS, LOCAL TRADITIONAL HEADS INTERACT WITH CM AT TURA

Tura, April 24, 2015: The Nokmas and local traditional heads of Garo Hills had an in depth interaction and deliberations with the Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma in connection with the move to institutionalize and empower the traditional bodies here at SMELC Building, Dakopre on Friday.

The interaction programme organized by the West Garo Hills District Administration was also participated by Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh, Minister for Social Welfare Deborah Marak, State Chief Secretary P B O Warjri, Additional Chief Secretary, K S Kropha, Chief Executive Member, Chairman and other members of the GHADC, members of the Council of Nokmas, officials of Law and District Council Affairs department, besides the MLAs, Nokmas, local traditional heads and members of the civil society organizations. Earlier, the same exercise was also held in Shillong for the traditional heads and bodies of Khasi and Jaintia Hills which culminated in constitution of a committee headed by D D Lapang, Chief Adviser to the Government of Meghalaya.

Presiding over the deliberations, the Chief Minister said that this was a crucial and important step to have a productive engagement with the local heads representing various traditional institutions as to how to move ahead with complete clarity in partnership with them in all developmental initiatives. “There is a need to take advantage of the traditional system that we already have, which has withstood the test of time and still contributing to the growth and benefit of the State as mandated by the customary laws and practices”, he said. But what has now been happening is that there has not been a clear cut measure to have a complete clarity vis-à-vis various legal conflicts which we are often confronted by, he added. Therefore he said that the most important part was to ensure that we come up with an appropriate mechanism to frame laws to empower and institutionalize the traditional bodies so as to generate proactive partnership from them in sharing the responsibilities of both governance and delivery of developmental programmes for the best interest of the people. He also said that in view of the certain confusion arising out of High Court ruling, there was need for legal framework to effectively empower the traditional institutions to exercise administrative and judicial powers in resolving petty disputes in the villages.

After the deliberations, the Chief Minister found that there was complete unanimity on the need institutionalize the traditional bodies and said that there would have to be number of sittings taking into consideration the views of all the stakeholders to come up with a complete mechanism for the same.

Giving his views during the deliberations, Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh also felt that in absence of proper laws, the traditional bodies and customary practices were seen clashing with the law of the land.

Parliamentary Secretary, Cherak W Momin, GHADC CEM, Alphonse A. Sangma, GHADC Chairman, P K Sangma, Adviser to the Council of Nokmas Prof. Milton Sangma and MDC L R Ch Momin were among others who also participated in the deliberations, while the President of the Council of Nokmas, Skylance G Momin gave a presentation to the Chief Minister seeking constitutional recognition of Nokmaship and empowerment at the grassroots level and also inclusion of additional members from Garo Hills in the Committee formed for institutionalization of traditional bodies.

The Chief Secretary P BO Warjri, Additional Chief Secretary K S Kropha and Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi also shared their views on the occasion. The move is to ensure that the traditional bodies function in a cohesive and organized manner, to give them the recognition they deserve, to make them clear about their functions and responsibilities and to instill in them the sense of accountability.