Poll rolls delay KHADC delimitation

SHILLONG, May 14: The delay in providing copies of the electoral rolls of 29 constituencies of the KHADC to its Delimitation Committee has held up the delimitation exercise.
It is not clear if a communication gap due to the reshuffling of officials for the Lok Sabha polls or laxity on their part led to the delay.
Sources on Tuesday told The Shillong Times that the District Council Affairs (DCA) department had written to the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner to request the DCs of Ri-Bhoi, South West Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, and Eastern West Khasi Hills apart from the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of the Sohra Civil Sub Division to provide the copies of the electoral rolls.
The East Khasi Hills DC, who is the nodal officer of the KHADC, wrote to his counterparts on February 20 seeking copies for the Delimitation Committee.
The sources further said the SDO of the Sohra Civil Sub Division provided the hard and soft copies of the electoral rolls of the Sohra and Shella constituencies to the KHADC secretary on April 22.
A KHADC official reportedly collected copies of the electoral rolls from Mairang without waiting for official communication from the DC of Eastern West Khasi Hills to the council.
On the other hand, the DCs of Ri-Bhoi and South West Khasi Hills have been reminded of the February 20 letter.
“If the KHADC secretary received the copies of the electoral rolls for Eastern West Khasi Hills and the Sohra Civil Sub Division in April, why were they not handed over to the Delimitation Committee?” A council insider said. It was also pointed out that the committee is still without the electoral rolls, which were requested since November last year.
On Sunday, the Delimitation Committee said it is yet to receive the electoral rolls from three districts, thus affecting the exercise of reshaping the 29 existing constituencies.
The committee’s Chairman, Stralwell Kharsyiemlieh told The Shillong Times that one of their major problems is the delay in receiving the electoral rolls from the Ri-Bhoi, South West Khasi Hills, Eastern West Khasi Hills districts, and the Sohra civil subdivision.
He said the electoral rolls of the East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills districts have been received so far.
“We will need the latest electoral rolls since it is an adjustment of the existing constituencies. We will have to look at the electorate size to decide on the readjustment of the constituencies,” Kharsyiemlieh, also a former KHADC judge, said.