SHILLONG: The ward election for the Shillong Cantonment Board has been postponed for six months.
An official from the Shillong Cantonment Board, on Tuesday, informed that the elections were supposed to be held by the month of January. Elections are held for seven wards in the board. According to the official, the Shillong Cantonment Board holds ward election whenever it is notified by the Ministry of Defence.
Asked about the reason for postponement, the official said that there are altogether 62 cantonment boards across the county and in some, the term of the ward members gets over slightly later and hence, the ministry wants the term of all the members to exhaust at one time and thus, hold the elections simultaneously across the country.
Throughout the country, the term of the elected members of the 56 cantonment boards ended on February 10, while the term of the other remaining boards would end in June-July this year. For the cantonment board, which is under the control of Ministry of Defence, representatives are elected from among the residents of the cantonment area.
The board handles the work related to education, public health, roads, street lighting, water supply and birth and death registration.
The Shillong Cantonment Board, which was established in the year 1884, has an area spread over 491 acres in Shillong and it has a population of 11,919 as per the 2011 census.
