Shillong, October 04: A petition seeking a fixed time limit for placing reports of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) before Parliament was submitted to Rajya Sabha MP James P.K. Sangma.
The petition was submitted by John F. Kharshiing, Co-Chairman of the Meghalaya State Planning Board and Chairman of the Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya.
Kharshiing urged Sangma to take up the long-pending demand for amendments to Articles 338 and 338A of the Constitution, which deal with the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The demand is aimed at ensuring that reports of the NCST, along with the government’s Action Taken Reports, are placed before Parliament within a prescribed period.
The petition referred to the recommendations of the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in its 1997-98 report. The commission had recommended that its reports be placed before both Houses of Parliament within three months of being submitted to the President, while the Action Taken Report should be tabled within six months.
Kharshiing said the issue has been raised repeatedly by tribal organisations and representatives over the years, including through representations made in 2010, 2012 and 2015.
He also recalled meetings and submissions made in 2015 to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the then Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Despite these efforts, he said, no amendment has so far been made to Articles 338 and 338A to prescribe a specific time frame for placing the Commission’s reports before Parliament.
The petition also drew attention to Article 338A, under which reports of the NCST submitted to the President are to be laid before Parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed on the Commission’s recommendations.
Kharshiing pointed out that several NCST reports continue to be listed as “Yet to be laid” before one or both Houses of Parliament.
He argued that the absence of a fixed timeline weakens the mechanism of parliamentary scrutiny of issues concerning Scheduled Tribes.
During Saturday’s meeting, Kharshiing briefed Sangma on the history of the demand and the representations made over the past decade and a half.
Sangma assured him that he would seek details on the matter and its present status and revert.
The petition urged the MP to take up the issue in Parliament and pursue suitable amendments to Articles 338 and 338A so that reports of the National Commissions and the corresponding Action Taken Reports are placed before Parliament within a clearly defined timeframe.
