The revival of the demand for two autonomous councils has made political parties and community-based groups call for bringing the entire Arunachal Pradesh under the ambit of the Sixth Schedule or Article 371 (A) of the Constitution.
The Frontier State bordering Bhutan, China and Myanmar is under the Fifth Schedule that “does not provide special rights for the indigenous communities” unlike the Sixth Schedule.
The Sixth Schedule currently includes 10 autonomous district councils in four northeastern States — Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
Nagaland, on the other hand, is governed by Article 371 (A), which says that no Act of Parliament shall apply in the State in several areas unless the Nagaland Assembly so decides by a resolution. These include administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law and ownership and transfer of land and its resources.
“The demand for autonomous councils does not hold water as Arunachal Pradesh is a Fifth Schedule State. Some States in the northeast have autonomous councils because they are under the Sixth Schedule,” said Gicho Kabak, State unit chief of the National People’s Party.
