Shillong, Dec 20: The first day of the KHADC winter session witnessed a heated debate with the opposition expressing their unhappiness at the decision of the Executive Committee (EC) to provide them with the revised list of business just minutes before the session commenced.
The EC has decided to table the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District Fishery (Amendment) Bill, 2023 during the current session.
Leader of Opposition in the KHADC, Titosstarwell Chyne thumped the desk to express his strong resentment on the dictatorial attitude of the NPP led Executive Committee.
Chyne said that even in the last session he had pleaded before the EC to give the members a minimum of two to three days’ time to study which it plans to table in the session of the council.
”Today we got the copy of the amendment bills and you ask us to submit the amendment motion by 4pm today. How is it possible for the members to submit the amendment motion when they have not got the opportunity to study these amendment bills,” the opposition leader said.
He said that the EC has again repeated the same thing that they had done in the last session.
“This clearly shows that the EC is not respecting the members of the House. My question is whether we don’t have the right to exercise our mind on the amendment bills tabled by the EC,” the Leader of Opposition said.
He recalled that in the last session, the EC had given a copy of the bills on Friday and they had expected the members to study the bill even on Sunday.
Asserting that this dictatorial attitude on the part of the EC is not acceptable, he said that it is really sad to see that EC does not bother to consult the MDCs from the opposition and do whatever they want.
He reminded that the EC cannot insult the members of the August House in this manner since they have been elected to this house by the people.
“I strongly question the manner in which the business of this august house is being conducted since there is a blatant violation of the rules of conduct of business,” Leader of Opposition said.
Chyne further said that why the EC should not wait till December 22 to pass these two amendment bills since it would be better to pass these bills today itself.
In reply, Deputy Chief Executive Member, Pynshngain N. Syiem said that the rules permit the EC to come up with the revised list even after the provisional list is finalized.
He also said that the Chairman can waive the rules if there is a necessity.
“May be the opposition does not feel that there is urgency to bring the two amendment bills. But the EC sees the urgency to table these two amendment bills in the current session,” Syiem said.
Talking about the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills District Fishery (Amendment) Bill, 2023, he said that the Governor had question the legal validity of the notification issued by the EC on July 25 directing all organizer to obtain permission from the district council before holding fishing competitions in all areas under the jurisdiction of the council.
In the relation to the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Syiem said that certain clans in Ri-Bhoi who follow the customary practice of Shaw Bhoi are denied of their rights to obtain the Schedule Tribe (ST) certificate till date.
“We cannot allow this injustice against these few clans to continue,” Syiem said.
It may be mentioned that Shaw Bhoi is where the male would take a wife from a different community if there were less or no female member at all to carry forward the name of the clan.