Municipal administration in the territories of mountaineer resettlement: problems and resolution mechanisms (on the example of the Republic of Dagestan)

Abstract

Introduction. The lack of legal status for settlements on transhumance lands in Dagestan has led to interethnic and territorial conflicts for several decades. According to the Dagestan Ministry of Agriculture, as of May 2024, approximately 100,000 people live in 124 settlements on transhumance lands. Legally, the population is assigned to mountainous regions, but the settlements do not have municipal status because they are located on agricultural lands. Despite this, 78 schools with very limited legal authority, 16 preschools, outpatient clinics, first-aid stations, and stores have been built and are currently operating in the transhumance territories. Gasification has been established, roads, and other infrastructure have been constructed. Purpose. The author aims to examine the historical context of the formation of these territories and develop recommendations for overcoming this problem. An examination of the history of the highlanders' migration to the plains and its analysis will allow us to understand the development of technological, environmental, economic, social, territorial, and interethnic relations in the transhumance territories. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study was a historical, archival, and contextual analysis of documents from the Central State Archives of the Republic of Dagestan, including historiography on the topic, as well as analytical reviews from agencies overseeing the situation in the transhumance territories. Results. An analysis of legislative acts regulating public administration in transhumance areas revealed a contradiction that subsequently led to difficulties with municipal governance in these areas. Vague wording created the potential for corruption in the purchase and sale of lands belonging to the inalienable fund and the construction of capital structures on them. Conclusions. To overcome the legal conflict in municipal governance of settlements on transhumance lands, the author proposes: 1. determining the actual areas necessary for the development of transhumance; 2. removing the remaining lands from the fund of inalienable agricultural lands and granting them the status of settlements, with subsequent incorporation into the municipalities in which they are located; Develop a sustainable development program for this territory at the government level of the Republic of Dagestan, taking into account historical, interethnic, territorial, environmental, economic, and legal factors, as well as the proposals and interests of the population itself.