In India, there are autonomously administered territories for Scheduled Tribes, administered by representatives of those tribes. The Sixth Schedule of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

allows for the formation of Autonomous District Councils and Autonomous Regional Councils in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

, and

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

, granting them autonomy within their respective territories. Currently, there are 10 Autonomous District Councils across these four states. In these areas, Acts of Parliament and state legislation do not apply. Additionally, other autonomous councils, created by individual states through state legislation, exist in

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

, and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. Unlike those under the Sixth Schedule, these councils are subject to parliamentary and state laws.

Powers and competencies

Executive and legislative powers

Under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, autonomous district councils can make laws, rules and regulations in the following areas: *Land management *Forest management *Water resources *Agriculture and cultivation *Formation of village councils *Public health *Sanitation *Village and town level policing *Appointment of traditional chiefs and headmen *Inheritance of property *Marriage and divorce *Social customs *Money lending and trading *Mining and minerals

Judicial powers

Autonomous district councils have powers to form courts to hear cases where both parties are members of Scheduled Tribes and the maximum sentence is less than 5 years in prison.

Taxation and revenue

Autonomous district councils have powers to levy taxes, fees and tolls on: building and land, animals, vehicles, boats, entry of goods into the area, roads, ferries, bridges, employment and income and general taxes for the maintenance of schools and roads.

Constitutional autonomous councils

There are 10 Autonomous District Councils created by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India:

Statutory autonomous councils

Some states have created autonomous councils by an Act of their state legislatures. The two autonomous councils in the

union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

was created by the

state of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir was a region formerly administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019, constituting the southern and southeastern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pakistan an ...

(1952 – 2019).

''De facto'' self-governing areas

North Sentinel Island

North Sentinel Island North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands, an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal which also includes South Sentinel Island. The island is a protected area of India. It is home to the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe in volunta ...

is situated in the island chain of the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

which is a

of India. It is home to the Sentinelese people, who are among some of the world's last

uncontacted peoples Uncontacted peoples are groups of Indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. Leg ...

. They reject any contact with other people and are among the last people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization. There has never been any treaty with the people of the island nor any record of a physical occupation. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration has stated that they have no intention of interfering with the Sentinelese's lifestyle or habitat. Although the island is likely to have suffered seriously from the effects of the December 2004 tsunami, the survival of the Sentinelese was confirmed when, some days after the event, an

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

helicopter observed several of them, who shot arrows at the hovering aircraft to repel it. Although this has not been done with any formal treaty, the official policy of minimal interference has ensured that they have '' de facto'' autonomy and sovereignty over their island under the framework of the central and local governments.

References

External links

Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India
{{Autonomous administrative divisions of India Administrative divisions of India Autonomous regions of India Lands reserved for indigenous peoples