Sixth Schedule
Special provisions for administering tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, via Autonomous District Councils. · Articles 244(2) and 275(1)
Creates a distinct, more autonomous governance structure for tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura: elected Autonomous District Councils (and, within them, Regional Councils) with real law-making power over land, forests, local customs, marriage and social customs, and — notably — their own courts to try certain cases involving tribal communities under customary law.
- These Councils can make actual laws (subject to the Governor's assent) — a meaningfully stronger form of self-governance than the Fifth Schedule's administrative-protection model.
This is the constitutional basis for institutions like the Bodoland Territorial Council or the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council — real, functioning local governments with genuine legislative and judicial powers over their areas.
Related article
The core constitutional article this Schedule is issued under
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