Success of autonomous district council in bringing development: A Case of Dima Hasao District in Assam

The long drawn turmoil in Northeast region arises from two reasons- a) the issue of ethnic and linguistic identity, which is perceived to be threatened by encroachment and infiltration of people both from within and outside region; b) economic backwardness. To deal with these issues writers of the Constitution brought in the provision of Sixth Schedule that deals with the administrative system of the tribal areas in states of Assam, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The objective behind were- a) to protect the unique ethnic identities of the tribal people; b) faster economic development of these areas, which remained backward than other parts of India due to British policy of exclusion of the tribal areas. After sixty years since the policy was adopted there are 10 Sixth Schedule areas in 4 states of North East- Assam, Mehgalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Keeping this background, this paper makes an attempt to study the case of Dima Hasao Autonomous District in Assam to understand success of the Sixth schedule areas in bringing development with an objective of suggesting corrective step to attain this goal.