Indigenous Land, Farming & People In Meghalaya : Perspectives for Responsive Regulation

Abstract

Indigenous farming practices, such as shifting cultivation and other variations are widely practiced in Meghalaya by the major tribes. Further, land in Meghalaya is uniquely governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, thereby making special provisions for ‘Scheduled Tribes’, i.e. the indigenous people of the state. Thus, the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) play a major role as formal institutions of governance in this context. Traditional institutions of governance in the form of the rangbah shnong (village headman) and dorbar shnong (village council) are simultaneously present as co-managers in the system. However, a regulatory gap has been noted in the governance of land and traditional agricultural practices. This is characterised by a weakened relationship between the two institutions – formal and traditional. Through a study of the above formal and traditional institutions in the context of the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya, the current study seeks to examine the regulatory environment of land and indigenous farming in Meghalaya. The aim is to bring about a transformational approach to regulatory policy in Meghalaya in relation to indigenous farming. This is done by applying the frame of responsive regulation as developed by Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite in 1992. Further, regulatory models from three international contexts have also been studied through which lessons may be drawn. The current study takes into consideration the practice of shifting cultivation (rep ki pan/ rep shyrti), traditional terraced cultivation (bun) and traditional cash crop cultivation (bri) practiced by the Khasi tribe. An inductive approach has been used for research and the methods include key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observational research, photography and secondary research.