Shillong, May 26: Tura BJP MDC Bernard Marak has asked the GHADC secretary to issue tribal certificates to the Scheduled
Tribes residing in Garo Hills through the council. “For many years, the residents of Garo Hills were forced to use the caste certificate as a Scheduled Tribe certificate. This process
was a dilution of the identities of the Garos”, Bernard said.
According to Bernard, the caste certificate can be issued by the Deputy Commissioner only in those areas where there are no autonomous dstrict councils.
“But in Garo Hills, despite being a Sixth Scheduled area, the Deputy Commissioner issues the Scheduled Caste certificate even to the Scheduled Tribes thus diluting the identities of the Hill tribals. The deputy commissioner represents the government which falls in a general category thus deputy commissioner cannot issue documents to the Scheduled Tribes in a Sixth Scheduled area”, he said.
The council is the authority to issue all documents to the residents of Garo Hills therefore, you are requested to issue the Scheduled Tribe certificate through GHADC thus upholding the constitutional rights reserved for the hills tribals – The Garos.
Registration of births & death
Secondly, the resident’s registration of birth and death should be done in
GHADC and not by the state, he said. In the Sixth Scheduled area, the primary health centers were originally under the GHADC and were never officially handed over to the state
government. Through an agreement, the sanctions for the upgradation of the Civil
Hospitals, the Medical College, the Child and Maternity Hospital and the Wellness
Centers were sanctioned under the purview of the Sixth Schedule. Therefore, you are
kindly requested to start registering the birth and death of the residents of Garo Hills
in GHADC exercising the autonomous power vested through the Constitution”, Bernard said.
