Following public debate on the dissonance between tribal traditions of self-governance and
modern formal institutions in December 1996, Parliament extended the Panchayat Act to the
areas covered by Schedule V of the Constitution. In many parts of India this has facilitated
tribal women's legal right to participate in NRM. This paper describes the particular situation
in north-eastern India, which is a region of great biogeographic and strategic significance. In
the north-east existing customary practices (backed by special Constitutional arrangements or
the provisions of Schedule VI) continue to deny tribal women ownership and significant control
over local resources. With particular reference to Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, the paper
argues for a reappraisal by tribal women and men of the sharply gender-biased customary practices and constitutional provisions in order to draw out women's power and strengthen their
capacity to shape local resource management.
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