SIXTH SCHEDULE

SIXTH SCHEDULE

Subject : Polity

Context : A committee would be constituted under Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy to find an appropriate solution to the issues related to language, culture and conservation of land in the Union Territory of Ladakh, the Home Ministry said in a statement.

Concept :

• The representatives expressed their concern with respect to conservation of language, culture and land of Ladakh. A protest was also held in this regard before the LAHDC [Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council] elections.

LAHDC

• The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh was created in 1995 under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act 1995 and an Autonomous Hill Council has also been established in neighbouringKargil District.
• The autonomous hill councils work with village panchayats to take decisions on economic development, healthcare, education, land use, taxation, animal husbandry and local governance which are further reviewed at the block headquarters in the presence of the chief executive councillor and executive councillors.
• As per Hill Council norms, the Chief Executive Councilor possess the rank and powers of a Cabinet Minister while as the Executive Councilors possess the rank and status of Deputy Minister.
• The council is composed of 30 Councillors of which 26 are directly elected and 4 are nominated members.
• The executive arm of the council consists of an executive committee composed of a Chief Executive Councillor and four other executive councillors.
• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes in 2019 recommended that the Union Territory of Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Sixth Schedule

• The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution.
• Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of 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 are empowered to reorganise boundaries of the tribal areas.
• In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.
• They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a separate legislation.
• Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils for each area constituted as an autonomous region.
• In all, there are 10 areas in the Northeast that are registered as autonomous districts – three in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and 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.