Some Tribal areas of the country had certain democratic traditions. In Meghalaya, for example, Tribal groups like Khasis, Jaintias, Garos have their own traditional political institutions. These have been in existence for centuries. They were well-developed institutions. They worked at different levels like village, kulam and State. For example, Khasis had their own Council for each Kulam. It was known as ‘Durbar koor’. The head of the Kulam chaired this Council
a. The 73rd Amendment does not cover the major portion of Hill Tribe areas.
b. Our policymakers were not keen on interfering with the institutions of the Tribals.
That is why they were kept outside the purview of the 73rd Amendment, tiplut Nongbri, a sociologist, points out that the structure and activities of the Tribal Institutions may not be democratic. She argued that although they have concepts of equality there are many inequalities in their community. The Tribal institutions were intolerant to women. Social changes have brought changes in these institutions also. Now it has become difficult to know what is traditional and what is not.
