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25/04/24 07:16 AM IST

Article 244(A) of Indian Constitution

In News
  • In Assam’s tribal-majority Diphu Lok Sabha constituency,candidates of all parties have promised the implementation of Article 244(A) of the Constitution to create an autonomous ‘state within a state’.
About Diphu
  • Diphu is the most sparsely populated of Assam’s 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, with just 8.9 lakh voters.
  • It is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs), and covers six legislative Assembly segments in three tribal-majority hill districts of Assam: Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, and Dima Hasao.
  • These three districts are administered under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which describes the “Provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram”.
  • These areas come under two autonomous councils: the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) and the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council.
  • Voters at the seat belong to various communities: Karbi, the third largest tribe in the state, Dimasa, Hmar, Kuki, Rengma Naga, Zeme Naga, Bodo, Garo, Assamese, Bengali, Bihari, Gorkha, etc.
Article 244(A)
  • Article 244(A) was inserted by The Constitution (Twenty-second Amendment) Act, 1969, which enabled Parliament to pass an Act to “form within the State of Assam an autonomous State comprising (whether wholly or in part) all or any of… [certain specified] tribal areas”, including Karbi Anglong.
  • This autonomous state would have its own Legislature or Council of Ministers or both.
  • This provision goes a step further than the provisions under the Sixth Schedule, which are already in place in these areas.
  • The autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule have elected representatives for more decentralised governance of these tribal areas, but they have limited legislative powers, do not have control over law and order, and have only limited financial powers.
Historical Background
  • The demand for autonomy is as old as the movement in the hill areas of undivided Assam, which began in the 1950s, seeking a separate hill state.
  • This movement resulted in the creation of the full-fledged state of Meghalaya in 1972 — however, because of the promise extended through Article 244(A), the leaders of the Karbi Anglong region opted to remain with Assam.
  • The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) — which was set up as a mass organisation to press for the region’s autonomy, and which continues to operate today — along with student bodies in the region, signed a Memorandum of Settlement with the state and central governments in 1995 for enhancing the powers of the two autonomous councils in the region by increasing the number of departments under their charge to 30 from 10.
  • The erstwhile Autonomous District Lok Sabha seat was represented by Jayanta Rongpi from 1991 to 1998 as a candidate of the ASDC.
  • The ASDC has a candidate for the Diphu seat in the current election as well
  • In 2021, a peace settlement was reached with five militant groups in Karbi Anglong — Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers, People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri, Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front, Kuki Liberation Front, and United People’s Liberation Army — under which greater autonomy and a special development package of Rs 1,000 crore over five years were promised.
  • Last year, an agreement was signed with the Dimasa National Liberation Army along the same lines.
Source- Indian Express

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