Autonomous district council

Also called: ADC · Topic: Special Provisions, Scheduled and Tribal Areas · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"; Class 12, Ch 7 "Regional Aspirations"

Meaning

An autonomous district council (ADC) is an elected body set up under the Sixth Schedule. It runs a listed tribal area in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura or Mizoram, and it has its own powers to make laws, run courts, and collect taxes and fees. It matters because it lets hill tribes keep their land, customs and ways of governing themselves while still staying inside a state. It is self-rule within a state, not a separate state.

Explanation

Origin and units

• Bordoloi Sub-committee (1947): a sub-committee of the Constituent Assembly's Advisory Committee, led by Gopinath Bordoloi, that studied the hill tribes of Assam.
• It found that the tribes already had their own working institutions, such as village councils and chiefs.
• It found that they feared land alienation (their land passing to outsiders from the plains) and feared losing their culture.

• It recommended elected district councils that could make laws and run courts.

• Autonomous district: a tribal area listed in para 20 of the Sixth Schedule. It is the basic unit of self-rule.

• The Governor's powers over areas (para 1). By public notice, the Governor may:
• create a new autonomous district;
• add areas to a district or take areas out of it;
• change a district's boundaries or name;

• divide a district into autonomous regions when different Scheduled Tribes live in it. This power does not apply to the Bodoland Territorial Areas District [4].

• Autonomous regional council: a separate council for one distinct tribe that lives inside an autonomous district. Such councils are rare in practice.

Structure (para 2)

• A normal ADC:
• has up to 30 members;
• has up to 4 members nominated by the Governor;
• has the rest elected by adult suffrage (every adult can vote);

• has a five-year term [4].

• The Bodoland exception. The Bodoland council has up to 46 members [4]:

• 40 are elected. Of these, 30 seats are reserved for STs, 5 for non-tribal communities and 5 are open to all.

• 6 are nominated by the Governor from communities that are not otherwise represented. At least 2 of them must be women. Nominated members can vote.

• Each council is a corporate body. It continues without break, has a common seal, and can sue and be sued in its own name [4].

Powers

• Legislative (para 3). Councils can make laws on:
• the allotment and use of land, other than reserved forests (forests the state protects and manages directly);
• forests that are not reserved;
• canals and water used for farming;
• jhum (shifting cultivation: clearing a forest patch, farming it for a few years, then moving on);
• village and town committees, including village police, public health and sanitation;
• appointing chiefs or headmen and deciding who succeeds them;
• inheritance of property, marriage and divorce, and social customs.

• A council law has no effect until the Governor assents to it.

• Extra subject lists.

• Para 3A: Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills (Dima Hasao) can make laws on more subjects, such as the alienation of land. Laws on Concurrent List subjects go to the President [4].

• Para 3B: Bodoland has a longer list that begins with agriculture. It can also stop people who are not eligible from acquiring land [4].

• Judicial (paras 4–5).

• Councils may set up village councils and courts for cases in which all parties are STs living in the area.
• Serious cases (punishable by death, transportation for life or at least five years in prison) can be tried only if the Governor gives special powers under the CPC and the CrPC.

• The High Court has as much power over these cases as the Governor specifies.

• Executive (para 6). Councils may set up and run primary schools, dispensaries, markets, cattle pounds, ferries, fisheries, roads and waterways.

• Financial (paras 7–10).
• Each council has a District Fund (para 7).
• It collects land revenue and taxes on land and buildings, professions, animals, vehicles, boats, and goods entering markets (para 8).
• Mineral royalties (para 9): the council and the state agree on the council's share. If they disagree, the Governor decides in the Governor's discretion, and that decision is final [4].
• Money-lending and trading (para 10): councils may require licences for money-lending and fix the highest interest rate. These rules need the Governor's assent, and para 10 does not apply to Bodoland [4].

Limits and controls

• Para 12 (Assam): an Assam Act on a para 3 subject applies in a council area only if the council directs it.
• Paras 12A–12B (other three states): the Governor (for state Acts) or the President (for Acts of Parliament) may keep an Act out of the area or apply it with changes.
• Para 14: the Governor may appoint a commission to inquire into how the area is run, including how council funds are used.
• Para 15: the Governor may annul or suspend a council act if it is likely to endanger the safety of India or harm public order.
• Para 16 (dissolution). The steps are: 1. A commission recommends dissolution. 2. The Governor dissolves the council. 3. The Governor takes over the council's work or hands it to a body, usually for up to 12 months. 4. The order is laid before the state legislature.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base:
• Art. 244(2): the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are run under the Sixth Schedule.
• Art. 275(1): the Union gives grants-in-aid for these areas. Under its second proviso, grants for Assam's tribal areas are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, which means Parliament does not vote on them.
• Para 21: Parliament can amend the Schedule by ordinary law (a simple majority, like any normal law). This is not an amendment under Art. 368.

• Arts. 243M and 243ZC: Parts IX and IXA (panchayats and municipalities) do not apply here. The councils take their place.

• Ten councils in four states:

State	Councils
Assam	Bodoland Territorial Council; Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council; Dima Hasao Autonomous Council (formerly North Cachar Hills)
Meghalaya	Khasi Hills; Jaintia Hills; Garo Hills
Tripura	Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council
Mizoram	Chakma; Lai; Mara

• Key instances:
• Mizoram (1972): the Chakma, Lai and Mara councils were set up when Mizoram became a Union Territory. They show minority tribes getting councils inside a tribal-majority area.
• Tripura (1979, 1984): the council was first created by a 1979 state Act. The 49th Amendment Act, 1984 brought it under the Sixth Schedule. It covers about two-thirds of Tripura's area. NCERT (Class 9) describes South Manubankul in Rupaichari block as a women-friendly local body inside this area.
• Bodoland (2003): the council was created under the 2003 Memorandum of Settlement and given legal form by the Sixth Schedule (Amendment) Act, 2003. An Interim Executive Council ran it until elections were held [4].
• Third Bodo Accord (27 January 2020): the area became the Bodoland Territorial Region with more powers. 1,615 cadres surrendered, and a Bodo Kachari Welfare Council was set up for Bodos living outside the BTC area [5].
• Karbi Anglong Agreement (4 September 2021): this agreement gave more autonomy to the Karbi council without breaking Assam's territorial integrity. 1,926 cadres gave up violence, and a ₹1,000 crore package over five years was announced [6].

• NCERT (Class 12) gives the Karbi and Dimasa councils as examples of autonomy demands being met inside a state.

• Pending reform: Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019.

• It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 6 February 2019, and a Standing Committee reported on it on 5 March 2020 [3].
• It would require the Finance Commission to recommend funds for the councils.
• It would create elected Village and Municipal Councils below the District Councils.
• State Election Commissions would hold council elections.
• Each District Council would have at least two seats for women.
• State Finance Commissions would be set up, and the Governor could make rules against defection (members switching parties) [2][3].
• It would rename the Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao councils Autonomous Territorial Councils [2][3].
• It amends Art. 280 as well, so it needs the Art. 368 procedure.

Don't confuse with

• Tribes Advisory Council (Fifth Schedule, Art. 244(1)): it only advises the state government. An ADC is elected and has its own law-making, court and tax powers.
• Autonomous regional council: it is a smaller council for one distinct tribe inside an autonomous district. An ADC covers the whole district.
• PESA 1996 panchayats: PESA extends Part IX panchayats to Fifth Schedule areas only. Sixth Schedule areas have councils instead, and Parts IX and IXA do not apply there.
• Art. 371 special provisions (for example, for Nagaland): they give special protection to a whole state. They do not set up elected district councils. Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh are not Sixth Schedule states.

Prelims Hooks

• Sixth Schedule → Arts. 244(2) and 275(1). Fifth Schedule → Art. 244(1).
• 4 states, 10 councils: Assam 3, Meghalaya 3, Tripura 1, Mizoram 3. Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh are a common trap.
• A normal ADC has up to 30 members, with up to 4 nominated. Bodoland has up to 46: 40 elected and 6 nominated, with at least 2 of the nominees women [4].
• Para 21: the Schedule is amended by ordinary law, which is not an Art. 368 amendment.
• 49th Amendment, 1984: brought the Tripura council under the Sixth Schedule.
• Para 9: the Governor's discretionary decision on royalty disputes is final [4]. 125th Amendment Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha [2][3].

Mains Points

• Real powers, weak autonomy.
• ADCs can make laws, run courts and raise taxes, so tribal identity fits inside Indian federalism.
• But the Governor's controls (paras 9, 15, 16) and dependence on state grants can make this autonomy hollow.

• With no Finance Commission route, the councils' social and economic infrastructure stays weak. The 125th Amendment Bill would create a constitutional channel for funds and has been pending since 2019 [2][3].

• Deepening democracy without Part IX.

• Problems include delayed elections, councils run by administrators, overlap with state departments, poor audit, few women members and weak representation of non-tribal residents.

• Village councils, polls held by State Election Commissions, women's seats and an anti-defection rule would help. These must still respect customary bodies such as Khasi dorbars (traditional village councils) and chiefs.

• Peace accords as a tool.

• Because para 21 allows amendment by ordinary law, the Schedule is a flexible way to settle conflicts, as the 2003 and 2020 Bodo settlements and the 2021 Karbi agreement show.
• But these one-off expansions leave councils with uneven powers (paras 3A and 3B), which raises questions of fairness to non-tribal residents and to other tribes [4][5][6].

Related concepts

• Sixth Schedule
• Autonomous regional council
• Bordoloi Sub-committee
• Bodoland Territorial Council
• Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council

Read more

• The Sixth Schedule: autonomous district and regional councils