Challenges in the Governance of Fifth Schedule Areas

Lack of Coverage: The Fifth Schedule applies in ten states, while the Sixth Schedule covers Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. However, these schedules only cover certain parts of the country despite the fact that tribes are also found in other areas. 

• Lack of power of self-governance: The Fifth Schedule, as it reads now, relates to the “Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes”. Regarding the administration of the scheduled areas, the word control can be understood as ‘power to influence or regulate’. The word “control” has reduced the prospects of the areas under Fifth Schedule into mere administrative areas without any powers of self-governance.
• Breach of Laws: While laws and policies exist to ensure peace and good governance in tribal areas, institutions and forest departments breach many laws. Pristine territories with rich mineral resources overlapping indigenous settlements have seen marginalisation of tribal voices, loss of autonomy and land.
• Lack of Rehabilitation: When land is required for developmental projects, the government has to follow due process, which amongst other things entails that people displaced should be adequately rehabilitated. But this has not been followed.
• Threat from Private Sector: The tribals have to also contend with ever-increasing threats from private interests. Improper mining, deforestation and land encroachment by unsavoury businesses not only jeopardises the environment, but also takes away from tribes their way of life. 
  • Despite the existence of land laws which prevent private companies from holding or leasing land in the region. There is contempt that tribals have been left out, while large corporate firms are taking away their resources sans making them stakeholders.
• Failure of Tribal sub-Plans:  The Reserve Bank of India in Scheduled Areas of Andhra Pradesh has planned to reward children who complete a certain level of education. The reward can only be claimed if they show property papers, which most do not own. 
  • Scheduled tribes have their own laws and traditions that are distinct from ones observed by the rest. Moreover, property papers are certified documents based on individual ownership, and most tribes believe in community ownership. 
• Lack of power to Tribes Advisory Councils: The Tribes Advisory Councils (TACs) in the fifth schedule are without real and effective powers, unlike the autonomous district councils in Sixth Schedule, which have legislative and financial powers to some extent.

Issues related to sixth schedule areas

• Demographic Imbalances: Insurgency has caused demographic imbalances and increased social tensions. For instance, The exodus of Chakma and Hajong communities from Bangladesh to North-East states has become a bone of contention between local communities and migrants.
• Discriminatory in Nature: The Sixth Schedule discriminates against the non-tribal residents in various ways and infringes upon their fundamental rights, like the right to equality before the law (Article 14), right against discrimination (Article 15), and the right to settle anywhere in India (Article 19).
  • This has resulted in repeated bouts of riots between tribals and non-tribals. This has driven many non-tribals out of the north-eastern states.
  • Many non-tribals continue to live in the shadow of violence, making a mockery of their fundamental right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Many Centers of Power: It has created multiple centres of power instead of bringing in a genuine process of autonomy in the region.   
  • There are frequent conflict of interest cases between the District Councils and the State Legislatures.
• Concentration of Power: The tribal elites have appropriated all the power and common citizens left helpless.
• Lack of Democracy: In the Sixth Schedule areas, there’s no decentralisation of powers and administration. There’s no panchayat and parishad. In a district council, few people are elected and they enjoy unbridled power. But democracy demands that power should not be concentrated in a few hands.
• Demand for separate 6th schedule status: Newly created Union Territories such as Ladakh are also demanding sixth schedule status on par with Bodoland Territorial council.
• Misuse of Funds and Corruption: There have been instances of misappropriation of government funds in the District Councils along with cases of corruption.
• Lack of Development: There is little development in these areas accompanied with large scale unemployment. 
• Inflow of Migrants:  Inflow of migrants has caused demographic imbalances and increased social tensions.

Way forward

The quadripartite accord signed in January 2020 between the Centre, the governments of Mizoram and Tripura, and leaders of Bru organisations have paved the way for effective and autonomous governing of the constitutional provision and to work in the letter and spirit of cooperative federalism.

• Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya also signed a pact to resolve their five-decade-old boundary dispute for holistic development of tribal people and manage the menace of insurgency. 

The provisions of Schedule Areas and Tribal areas under Article 244 are an attempt to decentralise power and accommodate local asymmetry in governance. The noble provisions of this Article provide for the preservation of local customs while arranging for a minimum level of standardisation of administration in these areas. Many shortcomings still exist in the governance of these areas. But arrangements for local participation would ensure its consistent improvement in future. However, this development can greatly be accelerated by finding common grounds for agreement between state government and local authorities for tackling governance issues of these regions.