Round The States

New Delhi, 26 May 2010

Constitution Fifth Schedule

Governors Have Special Powers

By Insaf

Dame luck has smiled once more on the State Governors. Only recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the Centre can no longer play ducks and drakes with the Governors of the States as it has done over the years. The power to remove a Governor, it has directed, will be exercised only by the President in “rare and exceptional circumstances for valid, compelling reasons.” A Governor could not be removed on the ground that he was out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union Government or the party at the Centre. It also held that the Court would interfere if the reasons for a Governor’s removal were “irrelevant, malafide or whimsical”. India’s Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati has now held in a clear opinion sought by the Centre that the Governor is not a mere rubber stamp vis a vis the State Government. He has stated that the Governor was free to make regulations for the “peace and good governance” of the Fifth Schedule areas in a State. The Fifth Schedule, under Article 244(1) of the Constitution, contains provisions as to the Administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in a State.

The AG has reportedly gone deep into the widths of power available to the Governor vis a vis the Fifth schedule areas and asserted that if the Governor was of the opinion that a particular law or regulation made by a State Government be not applicable to such areas, then he could do so without seeking the opinion of the concerned council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister. What is more, especially for the twin strategy of meeting the Naxalite fire with fire and hastening the development process in these areas, the Governor was free to make his own regulations for harmony and effective governance. Interestingly, the AG’s opinion coincides with the recommendations of the Mangeshkar Committee report of the Planning Commission. The Committee had advocated that the Governor must play a more pro-active role for ensuring protection of tribal rights for tribal welfare and development. Not many are aware that a Governor of a State having Scheduled areas is required under the Constitution to report annually to the President or whenever so required by him.

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Unlimited Mandate

That, however, is only one aspect of Attorney General Vahanvati’s considered opinion. Importantly, he has virtually held that the Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, need not feel handicapped in dealing with the Naxal menace and bemoan that the Union Cabinet had allowed him only a “limited mandate”. He has clearly advised the Centre that the Fifth Schedule areas identified by the Constitution, which in six out of nine States are Maoist hotbeds, could be administered directly by the Centre through the Governors and in doing so they were not bound by the advice of the State Governments. This gives the Centre an unlimited mandate in the Fifth Schedule areas. The Centre could, therefore, formulate its own strategies without falling foul of the perceived notion that the Governors act only on the advice of the State Government in tackling Naxalism. The Fifth Schedule areas in the States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are mainly forest and tribal areas where Maoists have entrenched themselves taking advantage of widespread poverty.

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UP Finances Alarming

Sonia Gandhi is clearly one up and more against Mayawati in UP. The UPA Chairperson’s contention that Mayawati’s UP continues to be in “a sorry state of affairs” has been endorsed by none less than the Planning Commission. In fact, the Commission has expressed serious concern over the regional disparities in the largest electoral State and warned that its deteriorating financial position has reached alarming levels. In a recent letter to Mayawati, the Commission’s Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, reportedly stated that “regional disparities in UP are a cause of worry and Bundelkhand, Eastern and Central regions of the State lag behind Western regions in almost all parameters of development.” He also reminded her of the special package of Rs.3,506 crore approved by the Centre for drought mitigation in the Bundelkhand area and asked her to issue necessary directions to ensure their utilization. Sonia Gandhi had alleged that the Centre was offering liberal assistance to UP. But the money was not being spent on development programmes.

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Darjeeling Defies GJM

A question mark has gone up over the writ and popularity of Bimal Gurung and his Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in Darjeeling following the brutal murder of the All India Gorkha League President Madan Tamang. The GJM, known for its politics of bandh in the hills, tried to enforce normalcy by asking the people to keep the shops and establishments open the next day. But there was total defiance, as people imposed a near-total shut down in the hills. The killing of Madan Tamang, one of the oldest votaries of a separate State for the Gorkhas, has greatly outraged the people of the hills. In fact his slaughter has led to the creation for the first time of a multi-party organization --- Democratic Front --- to challenge the “autocratic” rule of the GJM Chief, Bimal Gurung. The Front comprises the AIGL, CPRM, BJP, Trinamool Congress, Congress and Sikkim-Darjeeling Unification Manch. Significantly, Ashok Bhattacharya, Urban Development Minister, West Bengal, has even questioned the utility of continuing Tripartite Talks at New Delhi for resolving the impasse in the hills.

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PM’s Visit To J&K

Jammu & Kashmir and its long-suffering people are eagerly awaiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the State in the second week of June. The PM is expected to pick up threads of an engagement he had begun during his earlier visit with such initiatives as a round-table on the State and its future as well as talks with all shades of opinion. Dr. Manmohan Singh continues to be prepared to speak with the Huriyat leaders as in past. But it is upto the leaders of both the factions of the Huriyat’s to decide if they are willing to participate in the discussion. The Huriyat faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was in constant touch with Track II interlocutors for hammering out an agreement. They have now to carry this a stage further and hold meaningful talks in the best, long-term interest of the State. What should help is the recent statement of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Quereshi expressing his country’s willingness to carry forward efforts for an accord from where President Musharraf left it.

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Gogoi Given Free Hand

Assam’s unassuming Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, has been given by the Centre a free hand to decide on matters relating to peace talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and other militant groups, thanks to recent “dramatic developments”, including the arrest of ULFA Chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, and NDFB Chief Ranjan Daimary. However, counter-insurgency operations against the rebels will continue. Union Home Minister Chidambaram, who was visiting Guwahati following a trip to Aizawl, clarified to the media on Tuesday that the Centre would provide full support to Gogoi and it would henceforth be up to him to decide on how to carry forward the political process. The Centre holds by one basic position. All the militant groups must lay down their arms. Chidambaram declared: “There will be no let up in counter-insurgency operations in Assam till all the insurgents give up arms and join the political process”. ---INFA

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