Category: Article

Political Tension and Violence in Western Assam During
India’s 16th Lok Sabha Election, 2014

Article

By Bhasker Pegu

The recurrence of violence in early May 2014 in western Assam, especially the Bodoland region, at the time when national elections were conducted in phased manner, is one of significant issues in the history of Indian democracy. The timing of targeted killings right after the Lok Sabha poll in the region has left many to wonder whether citizens can exercise their right to franchise according to their conscience. The orchestrated violence has been discussed hotheadedly in the political circles with a succour of national dimension as it had more to do with political parties’ impending votes those churning secular rhetoric. The wave of violence in post-poll period in Bodoland autonomous region of Brahmaputra valley before the announcement of results indicated the looming peril in the northeastern region, whose history is interwoven with ethnic mobilisation and violence by numerous indigenous groups. The massacre in Assam linked to the future political insecurity, threats and tensions among competing groups over political representation in the Parliament of India. The poll results also showed that majority of the voters were not in favour of the Bodo candidates in Kokrajhar constituency.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772812

International Migration and Ethnicity: The Case of Nepalis
in Northeast India

Article

By Lusome Raman

Migration from one place to another has brought about the inter-mingling of different people, languages and cultures. While in some case, this intermingling of ethnic groups have brought great prosperity; in most cases it has brought ethnic conflicts. North East region of India is considered the hotbed of ethnic conflicts in the recent times. Keeping this in view, the present paper studies the Nepali community and their migration to the region. The Nepali speaking people, who represent Nepali community, makes one of the largest ethnic groups of the population of North-East states. The paper brings out the irregularities observed in the estimation of international migration in the region on the basis of the two definitions used in Census of India.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772795

Relevance of Community Policing in Manipur

Article

By Moirangmayum Sanjeev Singh

Community policing is a new addition to the law enforcement agencies which aims to establish partnership between local police and the people they serve. The immediate aim of community policing is to mitigate and prevent crime which in turn enhances the faith of community in police. It is a kind of policing in which the community and the police help each other in maintaining law and order and solve community problems in the society. Many states and Union Territories (UTs) have undertaken various initiatives to practice community policing in their respective states and UTs. This study attempts to examine the challenges for law enforcement agencies in Manipur and understand the concept of community policing. It also tries to study the relevance of community policing in Manipur and provide suggestions for effective implementation of community policing in Manipur.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772787

Women Empowerment and Maternal Health Care
Utilisation in North-East India

Article

By Mousumi Gogoi

Maternal health care services have always been concerned in reproductive health studies and women empowerment plays a great role in receiving health services in developing countries. The main focus of the present study is to find out the association between women’s empowerment and utilisation of maternal health care (MHC) services in North-East India using third round of National Family Health Survey (2005-06). Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate techniques are used to justify the objectives and different indices have created to show women empowerment in the region. Result shows that women were highly empowered in terms of decision making, whereas having own money and mobility is still lacking behind in the studied region. The proportion of using any ANC is quite high but utilisation of full ANC in very low among women in the region. Empowerment status is not directly hindered in use of health care services but lack of own money and mobility is a disadvantageous aspect. The region as a whole, proportion of institutional delivery and delivery by health professional is fairly uncommon.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772760

Investments in Mining in Meghalaya: Surface and Subsoil
Rights, Procedures and Regulatory Framework

Article

By Shabbeer Ahmed Shaik

Meghalaya is considered to have a rich base of mineral resources. Besides mining on Government owned land and mines in the state, traditionally coal mining has also been done by individuals who own the land and also have rights to the minerals in the sub-soil. This is quite extensive, and often illegal. The low level of industrialisation and the relatively poor infrastructure base acts as an impediment to the exploitation of these natural resources in the interest of the state’s economy, however, with the advent of some corporate companies, the trend has been changing. In the recent past, Meghalaya has become one of the hot destinations for mining as the corporate companies has started looking beyond the traditional spots like Odisha, Jharkhand, Karnataka, etc. More often than not, such mining activities performed with the financial assistance of the big corporates and entering into unenforceable agreements with the local tribals who own the lands, are going unregulated resulting in huge blow on state’s exchequer and commercial exploitation of local people. In view of the same, the Government of Meghalaya has recently introduced a new Meghalaya Mines and Minerals Policy, 2012 in order to regulate the mining operations in the state. Therefore, this research paper provides a basic understanding about the State and its special status under the Constitution of India, land rights, its mining policies vis-à-vis the National Mining Laws and recent observations of Supreme Court on subsoil mining rights which are imperative for the investors looking for investing in Mining sector in Meghalaya or for that matter in any other state.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772687

Revisiting the Boi System of Lushai Hills

Article

By Lalhrilmoi Hrangchal

This paper examines the boi system of Lushai Hills during the colonial period. It argues that bois are neither ‘slaves’ nor ordinary ‘paupers’, they are but bois after all. Despite a polemic debate on the subject it remains lively and vibrant. This
paper intend to contribute not only in terms of the on-going debate but also in providing some original materials to substantiate the argument of the boi system that one finds in the Lushai Hills before and during the colonial period, which was neither slavery nor a charitable institution but bois. Overall, it argues that boi system is certainly one form of servitude, and substantially, it is neither a charitable institution nor slavery but contains the elements of both. The debate continues to centre on the issue of legal slavery which have been initially projected by the Christian missionaries. The colonial state defended the system in the name of preserving tribal ‘customs’ but deep into the controversy lies the colonial state vested interests in preserving a class of workforce. It divorced the boi system with that of slavery merely to protect their own interest although it recognised that the system was inhuman from the perspective of the ‘civilised’ society they purportedly proclaimed to introduce in the Lushai Hills.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772663

Uncoordinated Paradigm of Housing in the Prime City
of Northeast India

Article

By Purobi Sharma

The urbanisation process reveals a complicated picture of two distinct trends, one, the ever increasing growth of population and second the myriad questions involved in management of its affairs. It is particularly so in the developing countries as there is a great lag between the growth and planning process. In the city of Guwahati, Housing is a major area of concern due to its physiographic features and its growth pattern. Urban seismic risk in Guwahati is increasing with extensive growth and the encroachment of vulnerable built–environment into areas susceptible to seismic hazard. The city lies in the zone V and at the same time the city has been expanded with high growth rate of population as the gateway to the North –Eastern states. In this backdrop the paper makes an enquiry into the subject of urban housing with three perspectives: the nature of housing development in the city; the imbalance between site-situation and development; the apathy towards plan implementation. The paper is the outcome of the academic concern for highlighting the need of proper policy perspective in the urban sector in general and Guwahati in particular whose primate city character in the North East Region of India cannot be ruled out because of the demographic and socio-economic dimension of its growth

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772646

 Korean Wave and Korean Media Consumption in Manipur

Article

By Marchang Reimeingam

The paper studies the Korean wave covering its origin, transnational characteristics, hybridity nature, style in twisting the original Korean look, threat to their original Korean culture and nature of flourishing business due to the wave. Despite of wide differences in the culture between Manipur and Korea there is a high tendency of diffusion of Korean culture through media in Manipur because of a significant level of Korean media consumption in it. Korean culture refers to the South Korean culture that is a blend of original Korean and modern western cultures. The study examines the process of Korean wave in Manipur as people contact through mass media exposure with the new dynamic culture that appears to be of greater attractive than their inherent culture. It examines the process in relation with their social, cultural, behavioural and psychological factors of the people of Manipur to Korean cultural orientation.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772627

Mizo Entrepreneurs: Features and Prospects

Article

By Shailaja Sanghamitra Thakur

Mizoram, in India’s eastern frontier, offers an interesting case study of the problems encountered while adopting standard development paradigms bereft of sociocultural content. There is general agreement that stimulus for economic development needs to come from a vibrant entrepreneurial class and cannot depend on external assistance. What is the situation in Mizoram? What are the main features of Mizo entrepreneurs? A state with very high literacy, progressive government and a relatively peaceful environment, yet a state where enterprise has still not taken root. What could be the possible reasons for the lack of entrepreneurship in the state? Are standard prescriptions – promotional policies, financial sops sufficient to stimulate entrepreneurship in the state? Are infrastructure bottlenecks, financial constraints, lack of skills the only possible reasons for such a sorry state of entrepreneurship in the state? Or are the problems more deep rooted and ingrained in the value system and socio-cultural milieu of the Mizos? We set out to explore such questions through first hand interaction with Mizo entrepreneurs in the state and try to relate entrepreneurship in the state to the institutional environment, attitudes and cultural norms of the Mizos. Recognising the importance of these elements, we come up with factors that are expected to influence development of entrepreneurship in the state.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12772565

Quality Of Life and Mental Health of Elderly in Meghalaya, India

Article

By Grace M. BasanShrieh

The Quality of Life and Mental Health status of 476 elderly persons in rural and urban Meghalaya state in India were assessed and their relationship to area of residence, gender, marital status, education, occupation, and type of family examined during 2018-19. The World Health Organization Quality of Life- BREF (WHOQOL, 1998) and Mental Health Inventory-18 (Veit & Ware, 1983) were used during household interviews with men and women elders who cooperated well. High scores were obtained for all the facets in the 2 questionnaires. Overall, the quality of life was found to be good despite various drawbacks and constraints in the State. Apparently the unique matrilineal family pattern and the Khasi Culture seems responsible for the good perception and the strong social relationships seem to help maintain high quality of life and psychological health, in the presence of inevitable physical discomforts and chronic morbidity. Quality of life and mental health were strongly correlated. Similar studies in other Indian states and effective elderly care services are recommended.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12788043

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