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For the Mikir and the North Cachar Hills, we recommendthat the necessary supervision and guidance should beprovided for a period of six years which we expect will bethe term of two councils by the appointment of the Districtor Sub-Divisional officer, as the case may be, as ex-officioPresident of the Council with powers, subject to the controlof the Government of Assam, to modify or annul resolutionsof the Council and to issue instructions as he may findnecessary.

14. FINANCE -

(a) Powers of the Council. - The next question wepropose to consider is finance. A demand common to the NagaHills, the Khasi and JaintiaHills, the Garo Hills and the Lushai Hill is that all powersof taxation should rest in the National Councils. TheNational Conference of the Garo and of the Khasi and JaintiaHills suggested a contribution to the provincial revenues ora sharing of certain items. If this were accepted even theCentre would have no powers to levy finances in these area.Suggestions regarding contribution to provincial revenuesare obviously based on the assumption that the district, inaddition to what it needs for its own expenditure, will havea surplus to make over to the Provincial Government. In thecase of the Garo Hills, it was suggested that the abolitionof zamindari rights in that area would result in aconsiderable augmentation of the revenues of the districtwhich would then be able to spare a certain sum to theProvincial Government, and generally the idea seems to bethat given sufficient powers the Districts will be able toincrease their revenues by exploitation of forests, mineraland hydro-electrical potentialities. Not only do some of thedistricts feel that they will have plenty of money in duecourse but the demand for all powers of taxation is based toa large extent on the fear that if the Provincial Governmenthas those powers they may not get a fair deal and there maybe diversion of money to other districts. Districts which,on the other hand feel that they do not command potentialsources of revenue or at least realise that the developmentof the resources will take time during which they remaineddeficit can only make a vague demand for allocation of fundsfrom a benevolent Province or Centre to supplement localresources.

Like most otherhill districts this area is also adeficit area. The same feeling which exists in other areasabout safeguarding land and protection of the land fromoccupation by outsiders as well as excluding them also fromother activities which may lead to exploitation prevailshere. One feature of this area is that among the differenttribes it is Hindustani which is more of common languagethan Assamese.

7. KHASI AND JAINTIA HILLS -

This partially excluded area consists of the JaintiaHills formerly forming part of the Kingdom of the oldJaintia Kings and now forming the Jowai Sub-division, andsome 176 villages in the Sadar Sub-division. The Khasi andJaintia Hills as a whole consists of a large territorybetweenthe Garo Hills on the west and the North Cachar Hills andthe Mikir Hills on the east. The Khasi States which consistof 1,509 villages cover the western portion of the Hills andthe British villages are interlaced with them. The people of the Jowai Sub-division are known as Synteng or Pnar andspeak a dialect but with the exception of a small number ofMikir on the northern slopes of the Hills, the wholepopulation of these Hills may be regarded as uniform. Unliketheir neighbours who speak Tibeto-Burman tongues the Khasiform an island of the MonKhmer linguistic family.

The Khasi States, which are about 25 in number, aresome of the smallest in India. The largest States areKhyriem, Mylliem and Nongkhlao and the smallest isNonglewai. The system of inheritance of Chiefship isdescribed as follows: -

"The Chiefs of these little States are generally takenfrom the same family inheritance going through the female. Auterine brother usually has the first claim and failing hima sister's son. The appointment is however subject to theapproval of a small electoral body, and the heir-apparent isoccasionally passed over, if for any reason, mental,physical or moral, he is unfit for the position. Theelectors are generally the myntries or lyngdohs, therepresentatives of the clans which go to form the State." InLangrin, the appointment is by popular election. In some of the States, if the Myntries are not unanimous in theirchoice, a popular election is held. The Chiefs are known asSiem in most States; but in some they are called Sardar,Lyngdoh in three of them and Wahadadar in one. The functionsof the chiefs are largely magisterial and in the dischargeof their duties they are assisted by their Myntries. Therelations between them and the Government of India are basedupon sanads issued to them. For specimen of these sanadsVolume XII of Aitchison's Treaties Engagements and Sanadsmay be referred to. Under the terms of the sanad, the chiefsare placed completely under the control of the DeputyCommissioner and the Government of India and waste lands aswell as minerals are ceded to the Government on conditionthat half the revenue is made over to the Siems. Theircriminal and civil authority are also limited. The sanads donot mention the right to levy excise on liquor and drugs andpresumably the Siems have that right. Though the States arenot in the partially excluded areas, the main interestattaching to them is the fact that there is anunderstandable feeling among the people of the States thatthere should be a federation between the States and theBritish portions so that all the Khasi people are broughtunder a common administration. The position is that in theBritish areas, though there is now the franchise and amember is sent to the provincial legislature, there is nostatutory local body for local self-government. The States,on the other hand, enjoy certain rights as stated above, andthe problem is to bridge the gap.

The Khasi and Jaintia Hills have the advantage of theprovincial headquarters Shillong, being situated among them.Literacy among the Khasi amounts to about 11 per cent with amale literacy of 19 per cent. The district is alreadyenfranchised and the special features which it is desirableto bear in mind is the matriarchal system prevalent there,the democratic village systems and other special customs andtraditions. Cultivation in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills maybe regarded as comparatively advanced. There is a good dealof wet cultivation and the culture of oranges and potatoesis common. The Khasi have also taken to non-agriculturalprofessions much more than other hill people.