Governor’s Rule in Chakma Autonomous District Council

• 15 Jan 2026

Source: TH 

The Governor of Mizoram has extended Governor’s Rule in the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) for another six months, citing continued political instability despite the State Cabinet opposing the extension. 

• Governor’s Rule was first imposed in the CADC in July 2025 due to prolonged political instability.  
• CADC: It was constituted in 1972 under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution to protect the political and cultural interests of the Chakma people in Mizoram.  
  • It exercises legislative, executive, and judicial powers over designated subjects within its jurisdiction. 
• The Chakma People: They are the second-largest Scheduled Tribe in Mizoram after the Mizo, speaking Chakma (Changma Bhajchare).  
  • They are a Buddhist community traditionally practising Jhum cultivation and are settled across the Chittagong Hill Tracts and parts of northeast India (primarily Mizoram, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh). 
• District Council under Sixth Schedule:  The Sixth Schedule aims to ensure self-governance of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram, while protecting tribal land, resources, culture, and identity from exploitation. 
  • Under Article 244(2), these areas are administered as Autonomous District Council (ADC), which may be further divided into Autonomous Regions.  
    • The Governor has powers to create, alter, or reorganise these areas. 
  • Each autonomous district has a District Council of up to 30 members (maximum 4 nominated, rest elected), and each autonomous region has a Regional Council.  
  • These councils can make laws on land, forests (excluding reserved forests), inheritance, and regulation of non-tribal moneylending and trade, subject to the Governor’s assent. 
• Governor's Rule in Autonomous Councils:  Under the Sixth Schedule, the Governor may intervene in an ADC during administrative breakdown, temporarily assuming its powers.  
  • Such intervention is expected to be done in consultation with the state government, in line with the federal spirit. 

Read more:  Autonomous District Councils