constituent assembly of india debates (proceedings)- volume vii

or carrying on business without the approval of the district-officer. It is felt that even industries should
not be started in the hill areas by non-tribals because that might mean exploitation of the people and the
land by the non-tribals. In addition to these main points there is the question of preserving their ways of
life and language, and method of cultivation etc. Opinions are expressed that there could be adequate
protection in these matters only by transferring the government of the area entirely into the hands of the
hill people themselves.
(c) In the making suitable financial provisions it is feared that unless suitable provisions are made or
powers are conferred upon the local councils themselves, the provincial government may not, due to the
pressure of the plains people, set apart adequate funds for the development of the tribal areas. In this
connection we invite a reference to the views expressed in the Assam Government's Factual
Memorandum on p. 67 of Constituent Assembly Pamphlet Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas - I.
7. PROVISIONS OF 1935 ACT -
The provisions of the Government of India Act are based on the principle that legislation which is
passed by the Provincial Legislature is often likely to be unsuitable for application to the Hill Districts. The
mechanism provided for "filtering" the legislation is therefore to empower the Governor of the Province
to apply or not to apply such legislation. The full implications of the provisions of the Government of
India Act are discussed in the Constituent Assembly pamphlets on "Excluded and Partially Excluded
Areas" Parts I and II, and it is perhaps not necessary to discuss them exhaustively here. The main
features of the provisions are that certain areas have been scheduled as excluded or partially excluded;
it is possible for areas to be transferred from the category of excluded to the category of partially
excluded by an Order-in-Council and, similarly, from the category of partially excluded to the category of
non-excluded; legislation will not apply automatically to any such scheduled area even if it is a partially
excluded area, but will have to be notified by the Governor who, if he applies them at all, can make
alterations. The revenues for excluded areas are charged to the revenues of the Province and special
regulations, which do not apply to the rest of the Province, may be made by the Governor in his
discretion for excluded and partially excluded areas.
8. FUTURE POLICY -
The continuance or otherwise of exclusion cannot be considered solely from the point of view of the
general advancement of an area. If that were so, all that would be necessary in the case of areas like the
Lushai Hills which are considered sufficiently advanced would be to remove the feature of exclusion or
partial exclusion. such action may be suitable in the case of certain partially excluded areas in other
parts of India. But in the Hills of Assam the fact that the hill people have not yet been assimilated with
the people of the plains of Assam has to be taken into account though a great proportion of hill people
now classed as plains tribals have gone a long way towards such assimilation. Assimilation has probably
advanced least in the Naga Hills and in the Lushai Hills, and the policy of exclusion has of course tended
to create a feeling of separateness.
On the other hand, it is the advice of anthropologists (see Dr. Guha's evidence) that assimilation
cannot take place by the sudden breaking up of tribal institutions and what is required is evolution or
growth on the old foundations. This means that the evolution should come as far as possible from the
tribe itself but it is equally clear that contact with outside influences is necessary though not in a
compelling way. The distinct features of their way of life have at any rate to be taken into account. Some
of the tribal systems such as the system of the tribal council for the decision of disputes afford by far the
simplest and the best way of dispensation of justice for the rural areas without the costly system of
courts and codified laws. Until there is a change in the way of life brought about by the hill people
themselves, it would not be desirable to permit any different system to be imposed from outside. The
future of these hills now does not seem to lie in absorption in the hill people will become