By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 4: The long-pending delimitation exercise and the subsequent hurdles that delayed the exercise may well have reached fruition as Governor CH Vijayashankar has approved both the KHADC (Constitution of District Council) (Amendment) Rules, 2024, and the JHADC (Constitution of District Council) Amendment Bill, 2024, paving the way for the delimitation of constituencies ahead of the upcoming council elections.
According to sources, the District Council Affairs (DCA) department forwarded the amendment rules to the Governor after obtaining input from the Law department.
With the Governor’s approval, the amendment rules will soon be notified in the official gazette.
In preparation for the district council elections, the DCA department has also instructed engineers to conduct a first-level check on more than 3,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to ensure they are still functional.
The DCA will also need to coordinate with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to utilise the electoral rolls of the Assembly constituencies. This will involve segregating the names of non-tribal voters to prepare new electoral rolls in accordance with the delimitation of constituencies.
Meanwhile, the DCA department has communicated with the respective Deputy Commissioners to begin groundwork for the upcoming polls in both KHADC and JHADC.
Govt defends
term extension
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya government has defended its decision to extend the terms of the KHADC and JHADC for another six months, dismissing any speculation that it is avoiding elections.
Deputy Chief Minister in charge of the District Council Affairs (DCA) department, Prestone Tynsong, clarified that the extension was necessary due to the lengthy processes involved in preparing for the elections.
“It is not that we are scared to face MDC elections, but it is because of the long process which we had to follow, and the extension of the term was inevitable,” Tynsong explained.
Citing the Sixth Schedule, Tynsong pointed out that the rules allow the Governor to extend the term of the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) for up to 12 months if the situation demands it. The terms of both the KHADC and JHADC were extended earlier this year for six months and have now been extended for another six months.
Tynsong noted that notifying the appendix of the rules alone would take about a month and a half, as it must include a list of villages where changes have occurred.
Regarding the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Tynsong mentioned that the central government has authorised only one public sector undertaking to produce EVMs. The company has been requested to come to Shillong to inspect the old EVMs. “If the old EVMs are not functional, we will have to procure new ones, and it will take a minimum of three months to get the new EVMs,” Tynsong said.
The Deputy CM further defended the term extension by stating that the state government must allow the District Councils access to data from the electoral rolls published by the Election Commission of India (ECI). He added that the revision process would take no less than three and a half months before the final roll is published.
He also informed that the process of electing a new house must be completed by March 5, 2025.