By Our Reporter
Shillong, Dec 8: The KHADC executive committee (EC) has no authority to extend the current house’s term in the event that the council’s delimitation committee (DC) is unable to finish its exercise within the allotted time.
“The state government is in charge of holding the autonomous district council elections. Thus, if it sees fit, the state government has the authority to prolong the current house’s tenure,” KHADC CEM Pyniaid Sing Syiem informed a group of reporters.
He went on to say that in light of the petitions it had received from multiple villages, the current EC had made the decision to realign and readjust the current constituencies.
He cited the delimitation exercise that preceded the 2013 district council elections and stated that the delimitation that occurred ten years prior resulted in the creation of the Umsning constituency and the removal of the Laitkroh constituency.
The KHADC CEM gave an example by stating that there is a significant difference in voter count between the Mawlai and Laban-Mawprem constituencies.
He stated that the Laban-Mawprem constituency, which is the smallest, only has 12,000 voters, while the Mawlai constituency, which is the largest, has over 55,000 voters.
“In terms of schemes and developmental programmes allotted to the two constituencies, the MDC from Laban-Mawprem receives an equal share as the MDC from Mawlai. We believe it to be unjustified,” he stated.
He claimed that by realigning or readjusting the current constituencies, corrective action can be taken to reduce this enormous disparity.
He clarified that the EC had not chosen to conduct the delimitation process in order to postpone the elections, as many had claimed, and added that the Governor had appointed the Delimitation Committee in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
“The committee should be able to hold the hearing of 29 constituencies by December, in accordance with the schedule. I am hoping they finish the exercise as soon as possible,” Syiem continued.
No manpower to check illegal non-tribal businesses
The lack of adequate manpower in the Trade department’s enforcement wing is making it difficult for the KHADC to monitor non-tribal traders operating illegally within the council’s jurisdiction.
“We only have 70 employees in the enforcement wing who must take care of the various areas in the five districts; hence, we are unable to conduct routine checks to identify the non-tribal traders who have not obtained the trading licences. It is humanly not possible for the enforcement wing staff to conduct routine checks,” Syiem said.
Additionally, he stated that it is for this reason that he and other executive members are working with the enforcement wing to perform an inspection or verification of the trading licences.
He claims that in Shillong, specifically in the Iewduh market, as well as in Ri-Bhoi areas like Them Ri-Bhoi, Khanapara, and Byrnihat, there are numerous non-tribal traders operating illegally without legitimate trading licences.
Although he applauded a group of women under the Khun Kynthei Hynniewtrep Association (KKHA) for coming forward to report about non-tribal traders operating without trading licences in Iewduh market, he lamented that the group was unable to accompany them on Wednesday when they conducted the checking because of a communication breakdown.
It may be recalled that during a surprise inspection at the Iewduh market on Wednesday, the enforcement wing closed up to six shops after discovering that they were operating without a licence.