Minor defects in two village bills need to be corrected, says HDR Lyngdoh
SHILLONG: Seeking to institutionalise the role and functions of the traditional institutions in the state, the State government on Wednesday agreed to approve and forward two village administration bills to the Governor for his assent.
“We have agreed in principle to facilitate the smooth passage of the village administration bills of the two councils,” District Council Affairs Minister H D R Lyngdoh said after a meeting with the chief executives of both KHADC and JHADC here.
Expressing satisfaction on the draft bills, the DCA Minister pointed out that both the bills have ‘minor’ defects, the correction of which will have to be carried out by the respective executive committees (ECs) of the two councils.
He said, “The government will forward the bills to the Governor for his assent, whenever the district councils are ready.”
When asked if any timeframe has been set for completing the exercise, Lyngdoh said, “No”.
He, however, refused to divulge any details about Wednesday’s discussion.
According to the Minister, all other issues related to the two bills have been resolved with the presence of officials from both the Law department and the DCA department.
Meanwhile, the KHADC CEM Pynshngaiñ N Syiem said that his EC would try to complete the corrections of the bill at the earliest.
“We have to do it at the earliest since we understand the urgency of the matter,” Syiem said.
Echoing a similar view, the JHADC CEM Thombor Shiwat said “We have accepted the suggestions by the government to rectify the minor defects. We are taking back the bill to the council to correct the defects which will take at least two-three days.
While divulging some of the flaws in the Bill, the JHADC CEM said that the new Elakas which had been created would be headed by Sirdars and not by Dalois.
According to him, the prevailing custom will not come into effect in the new Elaka therefore it cannot be headed by a Daloi.
Informing that the Daloi holds office for a life time, he said that the term of the Sirdar in the newly created Elakas is fixed for five years.
The JHADC CEM also informed that they have also laid provision in the bill for inclusion of the women members in the Executive Committee of the Dorbar Shnong.
“A minimum of three women members should be included in the EC,” Shiwat added.
KHADC MEET: The KHADC Executive Committee (EC) has convened an emergency meeting of all the 30 MDCs to discuss the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting with the State Government at the MDC hostel on Thursday at 11 am.
The KHADC CEM informed this on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the District Council Affairs Minister HDR Lyngdoh will meet former KHADC CEM Adelbert Nongrum, who has been on hunger strike since May 16, on Thursday at 10 am.