SHILLONG: There seems to be no end in sight to the tussle between the State Government and the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) with KHADC CEM PN Syiem now slamming the Government for not being serious over the issue of the Village Administration Bill (VAB).
In a counter allegation, the CEM criticized Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, who recently said that as the KHADC had not complied with the rectifications, the VAB was forwarded to the Governor for his assent.
Addressing media persons on Friday, Syiem said that the Government was not serious to discuss the matter with the KHADC, and instead sought clarification from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
“It revealed the double standards of the Government towards the VAB,” Syiem said.
He added that the Government should have convened a meeting to discuss the matter with the District Council before forwarding the Bill to MHA.
At the same time, Syiem indicated that the state government had advised the Governor to send the Bill to MHA.
“Since the Governor cannot act on his own discretion, he acted on the advice of the Council of Ministers and sent the Bill to MHA,” Syiem said.
He questioned the Government’s motive in keeping silent and not pointing out the conflicting clauses in the VAB during the round table discussion held last year between a KHADC delegation and government where officials from the law department were also present.
Syiem said, “The District Council did not spoil the VAB, the Government did. The Government took the matter very lightly when the Governor had sent the Bill for clarification on the clauses”.
He added that the Government should have kept the Bill on hold if there were complaints.
The CEM alleged that the Government intends to do away with the system of ADCs by way of initiating a committee to look into the matter similar to the Lapang-led committee constituted by the Government to submit recommendations to institutionalize traditional institutions.
The Lapang led committee, however, was de-notified.
Meanwhile, Syiem conveyed his appreciation to the efforts of Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong for extending support to KHADC.
According to Syiem, for the next course of action on VAB, he will wait for the observations from the MHA.