SHILLONG, Oct 31: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council has come up with the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Village and Town Development Council Bill, 2021, to pave the way for the Dorbar Shnong to avail direct funding through the Finance Commission.
The bill will be introduced during the upcoming re-assembled autumn session of the council from November 8.
KHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM) Titosstarwell Chyne termed it a landmark bill leading to the creation of the Village Development Council (VDC) and the Town Development Council (TDC) that will be responsible for overseeing the development works in the villages and urban localities.
He, however, said that the VDC and TDC will come under the Dorbar Shnong and they will not be parallel bodies interfering in the local affairs.
“We have formulated this legislation since we do not want the Dorbar Shnong to lose the benefit of direct funding which the 15th Finance Commission is planning to allocate to the villages,” Chyne told The Shillong Times.
The KHADC chief said the members of the VDC and TDC will be elected with the Rangbah Shnong as the chairman and some seats in these councils will be reserved for women.
“The strength of this development council shall not be less than 10 and not more than 15,” he said.
Chyne said the council will allow the women to voice their concerns on the developmental activities in the villages.
According to him, the projects sanctioned through the MDC scheme will also be implemented by the VDC and TDC.
The KHADC chief also said the select committee will also meet in the next few days to deliberate on the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land) Bill, 2021.
This land bill was referred to the select committee after the opposition members request its fine-tuning during the budget session in March. “The select committee could not meet earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Chyne said.
