National

Our Privy Purses, Please

Assam and Meghalaya want rights—and constitutional recognition—for their royals

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Our Privy Purses, Please
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According to the Tiwa customary traditions, the king is the religious and administrative head of the tribe and the subjects pay their obeisance to him during community celebrations and other rituals. On January 24, Dipsing, an avid Sachin fan, was driven in a motorcade from his home to the traditional annual fair at the village of Jon Beel, 65 km east of Guwahati, where he ordered his aides to collect the annual taxes from the traders and shop owners. His prime minister, Nagen Borborua, said the tax ranges from Rs 20-30 per trader or shop owner, giving the king an annual revenue of some Rs 20,000.

It is age-old practices such as collecting 'annual taxes', kept going by groups like the Tiwas, that bolster the case. They are helping their claim that kingship is relevant even today. But royalty itself is under threat in the region, with most royals living in penury. Dipsing's family, for instance, survives on a mere pittance in the form of offerings in cash or kind from local villagers, as has been the practice. "We get some rice from the villagers as a token of gift to the king. Besides, people are taking care of his educational expenses," says Anarkali, the queen mother.

Tiwa community leaders have now made a formal plea to the Centre and the Assam government to consider a regular monthly grant for the king's upkeep. "We have made this demand because we are after all keeping alive an age-old institution that still has total social sanction," said Jur Sing Bordoloi, a community leader, after his public appeal to the government for aid before 15,000 tribespeople.

Poor governance and corruption is behind this sudden assertiveness of the northeasterners. Prime minister A.B. Vajpayee said in New Delhi recently that the Centre has pumped in more than Rs 44,000 crore in the Northeast between 1998-99 and 2002-2003. Yet, the region continues to be economically stagnant with the growing number of educated unemployed looking mainly to government jobs.

"Due to corruption at various levels, development funds do not reach the masses. We are sure routing funds through the traditional institutions headed by the local kings and chiefs would ensure maximum transparency," says Manik Syiem, president of the Federation of the Khasi States, the apex body of the 25 Khasi kings and chiefs. Kharshiing has shown the way by becoming the first elected representative from Meghalaya to start implementing development projects through these kingdoms. "I have made a beginning by allocating Rs 60 lakh from my MP's development fund to the traditional institutions to carry out specific development projects," Kharshiing said. The Khasi chiefs are now gearing up to formally present to the Ministry for Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) a Rs 94-crore proposal on poverty alleviation prepared for them by tcs.

If people today are pushing for the rights of their royals, it's because they're clamouring for good governance. But, there are indications now that the Khasi Syiems would field their own candidate for the Shillong seat in the coming Lok Sabha polls. "This idea of having a representative in the Lok Sabha to lobby for the rights of traditional institutions is being discussed," says John Kharshiing. Do the royals in Meghalaya then have a political agenda after all? If they do, we'll soon have a novelty: democratically elected monarchs.

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