Exciting Facts About Government of Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh is an Indian state located in the extreme northeastern part of the country. It is a mountainous region that shares its border with Indian states Nagaland and Assam and internationally with Bhutan, Myanmar, and Tibet. It is the remotest state of India located in the himalayas. Its capital Itanagar is the largest town in the state. It received statehood on February 20th, 1987.

Arunachal Pradesh is also called the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ for it is the first to greet the rising sun on Indian soil. It is home to a plethora of tribes and is rich in culture and traditions. The population of Arunachal Pradesh is estimated to be 16.1 lakhs, which is comparatively sparse with respect to the area of the state. It is mostly covered by forest and is inhabited by twenty-six major tribes of which twelve tribes have been listed in the Scheduled Caste and Tribes List. It possesses a rich ecosystem, exhibiting a diverse variety of flora and more than 500 species of fauna, and offers many picturesque tourist spots.

System of Government in Arunachal Pradesh

In Arunachal Pradesh, the state governing body is called the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh. Like any other Indian state, the Governor is the nominal head of the state, by appointment from the President of India. The Chief Minister heads the government and has most executive powers. The capital Itanagar is the seat of power of the government. The state has a single House, unicameral state legislature: the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. There are two Lok Sabha constituencies in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and one Rajya Sabha seat. 

The judiciary body of the state is the Gauhati High court, which exercises its power over Arunachal Pradesh along with Assam, Nagaland, and Mizoram. The state is divided into 25 districts, mostly inhabited by tribal communities. The districts of Arunachal Pradesh are headed by a Deputy Commissioner from the Indian Administrative Service and a police superintendent from the Indian Police Service.

State Legislative Assembly

The seat of action of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly is at Itanagar, the capital of the state. It has a maximum strength of 60 members who are elected directly from individual constituencies. The tenure of the assembly is usually five years unless dissolved sooner. The Governor is also appointed for a term of five years.

Before attaining statehood, present-day Arunachal Pradesh fell under the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, governed by the Agency Council with its chairman being the Governor of Assam. In 1972, the Pradesh Council replaced the Agency Council, which was then converted to the Provisional Legislative Assembly in 1975. The Assembly then comprised only 33 members. When Arunachal Pradesh attained its statehood in 1987, the number of legislative seats increased to 60. 59 out of 60 legislative seats are reserved for Scheduled tribes’ candidates. This is due to the fact that the majority population comes from diverse tribes.

Pasang Dorjee Sona is the Speaker of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tenth Assembly. The Deputy Speaker is Tesam Pongte. Pema Khandu is the Chief Minister of the State or the Leader of the House from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The seat of the Leader of the Opposition is vacant as of now. B.D. Mishra is the Governor of the State. 

Pema Khandu is the son of Dorjee Khandu, Arunachal Pradesh’s former Chief minister (2007-2011). He first assumed the office of the chief minister in 2016 as an Indian National Congress candidate. In the same year, he switched to Bharatiya Janata Party. For his second tenure in 2019, he won a landslide victory for BJP by winning 41 out of 60 seats. Pema is the ninth chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh has twice been under President’s rule for 76 days from November 1979 to January 1980, and for 24 days in 2016 from January 26 to February 19.

Gauhati High Court

In 1948, the Gauhati High Court was established under the Government of India Act 1935. It came into effect on April 5 1948 as the High Court for the then Province of Assam. It was inaugurated by H.J. Kania, the then Chief Justice of India, at the invitation of Akbar Hydari, the then Governor of Assam, and Gopinath Bardoloi, the Premier of the Province. In 1971, it came to be known as the Gauhati High Court and before that, it was known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland. 

In terms of state, the Gauhati Court has the largest jurisdiction, exercising its judiciary powers in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland. It is principally seated at Guwahati, Assam. However, it has Permanent Bench in the states of Nagaland (Kohima Bench), Mizoram (Aizawl bench), and Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar Bench). On August 12, 2000, the Permanent Bench at Itanagar came into operation. Sudhanshu Dhulia is the current Chief Justice of the High Court.

Conclusion

In Arunachal Pradesh, the state governing body is called the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh. The government’s seat of power is the capital town of Itanagar. The state has a single House unicameral state legislature, the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. It has a maximum strength of 60 members who are elected directly from individual constituencies. The tenure of the assembly is usually five years unless dissolved sooner. 59 out of 60 legislative seats are reserved for Scheduled tribes’ candidates. 

Pasang Dorjee Sona is the Speaker of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tenth Assembly and Tesam Pongte the Deputy Speaker. Pema Khandu is the State’s Chief Minister and B.D. Mishra is the Governor of the State. The judiciary body of the state is the Gauhati High court, which exercises its judiciary power over Arunachal Pradesh along with Assam, Nagaland, and Mizoram.