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Meghalaya: District council to introduce Bill changing age-old Khasi matrilineal inheritance custom

·        A district self sufficient council in Meghalaya is attempting to alter a customary exercise of inheritance of the Khasi tribe in which the youngest daughter of the circle of relatives is bequeathedthe full share of parental property.

·        The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), an autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, is scheduled to introduce the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Khasi Inheritance of Property Bill, 2021, for “equitable distribution” of parental property among siblings – each male and girl.

·        The Khasis are a matrilineal society and trace inheritance and descent through the mother’s clan.

·        The ‘custodian’ In the matrilineal Khasi community, lineage and inheritance is traced through the daughter.

·        In maximum Khasi households, ancestral belongings is bequeathed to the youngest daughter (khatduh) of the family, who will become the “custodian” of the land, and takes over all obligations related to the land, together with looking after aged parents, single or destitute siblings.

·        Custom also dictates that the khatduh cannot sell the property, without permission of her maternal uncle.

·        Problems associated – In the Khasi custom, the youngest daughter inherits all the property of the parents.

·        As a result, the siblings (not just boys, but eldest girl siblings too), do not get their share.

·        Sometimes, when a couple has no children, and there is no genuine heir, the clan takes over the property, as per custom.

·        Over the years, a few businesses have protested the system of belongings inheritance, pronouncing it “disinherits” guys, and pressed for equitable belongings distribution between all kids within the own family.

·        Note – Even if the KHADC does skip the Bill, Paragraph 12A of the Sixth Schedule says that the proper of passing a district council law ultimately rests with the nation legislature. 

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