House adjourned till Thursday
JOWAI: The Delimitation Bill which was tabled in the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council on Tuesday could not be passed as members of both the ruling and opposition parties wanted proper examination and discussion on the Bill.
The Delimitation Bill was prepared in line with the report of the Delimitation Committee constituted specifically for the purpose of delimiting JHADC constituencies in East and West Jaintia Hills.
The Session started with an obituary references to two deceased members of the Council including former Sutnga MDC Beryl Sutnga and former Mowkaiaw MDC Qually Suiam, followed by Question Hour and presentation of official reports.
Chief Executive Member MB Rymbai introduced the Delimitation Bill to the House. However, Opposition members including Moonlight Pariat, Welcome Dkhar and ES Lyngdoh wanted the Bill prepared by the Executive Committee and the report of the Delimitation Committee to be properly examined and discussed before the Bill is approved and passed by the House.
When the CEM sought for the Delimitation Bill to be approved by the House without discussion, many MDCs complained that have only received the report of the Delimitation Committee and the Bill only one hour before the Session commenced.
Some Congress Member including Richard Sing Lyngdoh, Sunday Morning Suna, Wanbiang Shadap and Executive Member JU Nongrum supported the opposition member and demanded that the Bill should be examined and discussed before approval.
However, the JHADC Chairman suggested that the report of the Delimitation Committee and the Bill should be sent directly to the District Council Affairs department as it was the directive of the Governor to constitute the Delimitation Committee.
As the opposition members,supported by some Congress members, continued to protest, the House decided to refer the Bill and the report to the Delimitation Committee which has been asked to collect suggestions for amendment of the Bill before it is discussed in the JHADC. The House was then adjourned till Thursday.
