constituent assembly of india debates (proceedings)- volume vii

the Government of Assam. The Assam Government will however always be available to provide such
advice and assistance as the Local Councils may require through its Education Department particularly
with reference to the linking up of primary with secondary education. As regards secondary school
education we do not consider that the Hill People in general are able to look after this subject themselves
nor do we consider that this stage should be left without some integration at least with the general
system of the Province. There is of course no objection to Local Council being made responsible for the
management of secondary schools where they are found to have the necessary material. But we consider
that no statutory provision for this necessary and that it should be open to the Council and the
Government of Assam by executive instructions to make the necessary arrangements. The Local Councils
will have powers of management in all other matters usually administered by local boards and we
consider that on account of the special circumstances in the hills the councils should have powers to
make their own administrative regulations and rules. We expect however that in all matters, particularly
those involving technical matters like and management of dispensaries or construction of roads, the
Local Councils and their staffs will work under the Executive guidance of the corresponding Provincial
Department.
For the Mikir and the North Cachar Hills, we recommend that the necessary supervision and guidance
should be provided for a period of six years which we expect will be the term of two councils by the
appointment of the District or Sub-Divisional officer, as the case may be, as ex-officio President of the
Council with powers, subject to the control of the Government of Assam, to modify or annul resolutions
of the Council and to issue instructions as he may find necessary.
14. FINANCE -
(a) Powers of the Council. - The next question we propose to consider is finance. A demand
common to the Naga Hills, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the Garo Hills and the Lushai Hill is that all powers
of taxation should rest in the National Councils. The National Conference of the Garo and of the Khasi
and Jaintia Hills suggested a contribution to the provincial revenues or a sharing of certain items. If this
were accepted even the Centre would have no powers to levy finances in these areas. Suggestions
regarding contribution to provincial revenues are obviously based on the assumption that the district, in
addition to what it needs for its own expenditure, will have a surplus to make over to the Provincial
Government. In the case of the Garo Hills, it was suggested that the abolition of zamindari rights in that
area would result in a considerable augmentation of the revenues of the district which would then be
able to spare a certain sum to the Provincial Government, and generally the idea seems to be that given
sufficient powers the Districts will be able to increase their revenues by exploitation of forests, mineral
and hydro-electrical potentialities. Not only do some of the districts feel that they will have plenty of
money in due course but the demand for all powers of taxation is based to a large extent on the fear that
if the Provincial Government has those powers they may not get a fair deal and there may be diversion
of money to other districts. Districts which, on the other hand feel that they do not command potential
sources of revenue or at least realise that the development of the resources will take time during which
they remained deficit can only make a vague demand for allocation of funds from a benevolent Province
or Centre to supplement local resources.
The question of finance and powers of taxation in an atmosphere of suspicion and fear is not an easy
one. Any surplus district is likely to examine the provincial expenditure with a jealous eye to find out
whether it gets a good share of expenditure for its own benefit or not. The extreme case is the
expectation or demand that all the revenues derived from a particular district must be spent within that
district itself. It is obvious however that where different districts are functioning under a common
Provincial Government, the revenues of the whole area become diverted to a common pool from which
they are distributed to the best possible advantage of the Province as a whole. Should all powers of
taxation and appropriation of revenues be placed in the hands of the hills districts, the plains districts will
not fail to make a similar demand, and if they do, there would be little justification to refuse it to them.