The Arunachal Pradesh assembly on Thursday passed a bill to strengthen traditional village councils and fast-track the justice delivery mechanism.

The Assam Frontier (Administration of Justice) Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed by voice vote by the assembly.

The bill, which was tabled in the House on Tuesday by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, is aimed at making provisions for framing guidelines by the government for the election, selection and appointments of gaon buras and gaon buris (village head), among others.

“Amendments were made in the pre-Independence law, and through this bill, we are trying to protect indigenous customary laws in the state,” the chief minister said.

Responding to BJP MLA Nyamar Karbak’s suggestion to replace the nomenclature of ‘gaon bura’ with something more local, Khandu said the matter will be discussed on a larger platform.

The assembly also passed the Arunachal Pradesh Protection of Drinking Water Catchment Areas Bill, which was tabled on Tuesday by Public Health Engineering and Water Supply Minister Wangki Lowang.

Lowang said the water level of the state has depleted due to various factors, and the need of the hour is to take far-sighted actions so that water could be conserved for future generations.

As per the provisions of the bill, management and protection of catchment areas would be undertaken by the people with the support of the district administrations.

The bill aims to protect the catchment areas of drinking water sources in the state, and also to make water catchment more resilient to climate change.

The assembly also passed the Arunachal Pradesh Goods Tax (Amendment) Bill to augment revenue collection. 

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