KHADC Chief Executive Member Pyniaid Sing Syiem today said that any further delay to KHADC election due to the proposed amendment of the Sixth Schedule will depend on how the Centre and State government decide.
Stating that the amendment also known as the Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill 2019 will be tabled in the winter session of parliament in December, Syiem said that KHADC currently has no information whether the term of the council would be extended again.
“Till now we cannot say what will happen. If the amendment is passed we will see what steps the Home Ministry will take on this,” he said.
Moreover, KHADC Deputy CEM Pynshngain N. Syiem said that as per the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, the term of the council cannot be extended beyond one year.
“If there is an amendment of the Sixth Schedule, it is for the government to decide and issue a notification on such a matter (whether to extend the term again),” he said.
It may be mentioned that there are speculations that the elections to KHADC, JHADC and GHADC may be delayed again if the amendment to the Sixth Schedule is passed by parliament.
It may be mentioned that the KHADC and JHADC had carried out readjustment of constituencies since November last year. Due to the readjustment exercise, the tenure of the houses in the two councils which was supposed to end in March 2024 was extended for a period of six months. Again, the State government extended the term by another six months till March 2025.
Under the proposed amendment of the Sixth Schedule, the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) will have 37 members and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) will have not less than 40 members. Out of this, four will be nominated and the rest will be elected through adult suffrage.
The Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) will not have more than 32 members out of which not more than two will be nominated while the rest will be elected through adult suffrage.
If the seats are increased in the three councils from the existing 29, the District Councils Affairs Department will have to conduct delimitation of constituencies.
A delegation of Chief Executive Members from ten district councils of the North East (three each from Meghalaya, Assam and Mizoram, and one from Tripura) met Union Minister Amit Shah on July 25 to press for speeding up of the Sixth Schedule amendment bill.
Following the meeting, the Union government formed a committee headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai to resolve the issues that have been holding up the Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, 2019 intended to grant more financial, executive and administrative powers to tribal autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The amendment bill also includes a provision that would allow the Governor to make rules for disqualifying members of councils on the grounds of defection.
