Firm date: March 15

The Khasi Hills District Council will go to polls on March 15, it is officially learnt here. Earlier, the Govt was thinking in terms of holding the elections on February 28. It is said that the time for completing all preparations was found to be inadequate.

The Council has 29 seats spread over the two districts – East & West Khasi Hills.

The draft electoral rolls for the election have already been published. The final list of electorate will be released by early part of February.

Justice Datta Commission has submitted its report on the fiscal affairs of the East Khasi Hills District Council. The report was handed over to the Chief Minister, Captain W.A. Sangma, last week.

It is recalled that the State Govt had set up the one-man commission under the retired Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Mr S K Datta, to go into the affairs of the system of release of grants from the State and their utilization by the District Council.

Shillong experienced the coldest day of the season on January 18 when the barometer touched 0.9 degrees Celsius.

Thanks to an unscheduled cloud burst on Jan 17 and 18, the life in the city was somewhat affected. Throughout these murky days a chilly breeze constantly blew with the bit of a pin-prick. The unbearable cold forced the people indoors. Streets and market places were almost deserted early in the evening. Offices had relatively thin attendance.

In many areas heavy frosting was reported. Meadows, fields and rooftops remained covered with frost in the mornings.

There is no confirmation yet about the proposed visit to the Prime Minister to Shillong, sources said.

Mrs Gandhi, who is coming on a two-day tour of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on Feb 3, has been requested to take some time out to come over to Shillong for laying the foundation stone of the Regional unit of the All India Institute of Medical Science. According to information available, the Prime Minister arrives in Gauhati on Feb 3 to lay the foundation stone of the new State Capital complex at Chandrapur. She will also inaugurate the temporary SOS village near Mangaldai, and lay the foundation stone of the permanent one. A number of public meetings in Upper Assam are also on her programme.

Vayudoot has started its Shillong-Calcutta flight from Jan 16. The services have been reduced to three times a week instead of the original plan of a daily flight. The flights are presently being operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A spokesman of the local agencies for Vayudoot, said that the frequency of flights had been reduced due to shortage of aircraft. At present, aircraft is catering to the Calcutta-Shillong flights. The aircraft seats 18 persons.

So far, the passenger traffic has been “quite satisfactory”. On an average there are about 10 passengers daily flights. The spokesman is hopeful that this might be possible in another fortnight or so.

“Sheba Travels” which is the local agent, has engaged a local mini bus to service as surface transport to Umroi Airport and back. The bus leaves Shillong at 12:30 PM, and starts back from Umroi at 3.20 PM. A one way ticket costs Rs. 345.

Postal service in Shillong has of late deteriorated beyond proportions. Not only missing letters galore, the regularity of the delivery system seems to have been crippled owing to the P&T Department’s failing mail transport system.

During the recent times it has been experienced by the people of Shillong that more frequently than not the routine mail delivery comes to a sudden grinding halt.

When contacted an official of the P&T Department said that the postal delivery system was disrupted following break down of their mail delivery vans. The Department is said to be using the obsolete “Standard 10” which is hardly suited for carrying a big load on the rugged roads of the town.

In this respect the shoddy performance of the Laban Branch Post Office stands out as a poor example for others. Quite apart from the increasing instances of letters not reaching the addresses, it is found that delivery of mail takes unusually long. Irate residents recall that even a few months back the performance of the P&T Department was not all that glaringly bad. Letters used to take their usual four to five day’s time but they were sure of receiving them. But not any more. Letters from Calcutta and elsewhere take not less than a week for delivery. And now on top of that there are cases of missing letters and book post packets. It seems most people who depend on postal services for receiving glossy outstation magazines have the puzzling experience of not receiving their copies.

Meanwhile, there has been a widespread resentment in the Kench’s Trace, Rilbong and Bishnupur areas following the closure of the delivery facility at the Rilbong Sub Post Office. The local people had submitted a representation to the PMG requesting restoration of the delivery facility. It is learnt that the PMG’s Office has turned it down on some unconvincing ground. It is suspected that some vested interests are at work for denying this facility to the people.

The elections of the 29-seat Khasi Hills District Council is likely to be held on February 28.

Sources said that the cabinet which met on Jan 11 finalised the date. A formal notification announcing the poll schedule is expected to be issued on Jan 28.

Sources said that the Govt has decided to maintain status quo with regard to the delimitation of constituencies. It is recalled that the Executive Committee of the District Council had earlier recommended to the State Govt. for notifying fresh delimitations on lines indicated by it.

Observers say that the proposals for redefining of the Constituencies were patently designed to suit the interest of the State based parties which are saddled in power in the District Council. Obviously, it did not suit the Congress(I) led MDF Govt to comply with the Executive Committee’s recommendations.

Meanwhile, the Congress (I) has maintained its efforts to its fold. Notable catches of the recent weeks have been Mr Dlosing Lyngdoh, Chairman Khasi Hills District Council and Mr Wilford Lyngdoh, former General Secretary of the HSPDP.

There are strong rumours that some front-ranking APHLC leaders, including a couple of MLAs, are soon going to join the Congress (I). A former Minister is said to be tipped for the Chairmanship of the State Planning Board.

New Party: The proposed new regional party – a combination fo the APHLC and the HSPDP – is yet to see the light of the day. The two parties were to complete all constitutional formalities before the eventual amalgamation. But it has already fallen much behind schedule raising doubt whether it can finalise everything before the impending elections.

According to informed sources, the two parties are thinking in terms of having electoral adjustments in case the new party cannot be floated.

The Congress (I), which has its tail up, is aiming at wrestling power from the regional parties. The party sources said that it would set up candidates in all 29 constituencies.

Why this delay: Mr B B Lyngdoh, in a press statement, has clarified that there was some delay in floating the new party since “the leaders alone cannot dissolve the parties”. As per Supreme Court verdict on the “merger” of APHLC with Congress in 1977, no party can be dissolved “without the consent of the general membership.”

The Statement said that a joint Steering Committee of 20 members, ten from each party, was appointed to consult the members all over the State. The work was completed within three months. On July 20 the Steering Committee convened a general meeting of the leaders which ratified the report of the Committee recommending unit of the two parties. Subsequently, the HSPDP General Council on August 5 and the APHLC conference held a day later endorsed the decision and appointed two committees representing the two parties “to work out the modalities.”

The Regional Coordination Committee of the Central Government Employees & Workers (RCC/, N.E. Region, Shillong has protested against the “gross discrimination” made by the Union Govt in granting Special (duty) allowance at 25 percent only to the highly paid Central employees serving in the North-East.

In a telegram to the Union Minister of Finance the RCC has pointed out that all the Central Govt employees, whether having all India transfer liability or not, serving in the N.E. Region were exposed to the “same hazards and strains peculiar to the region and are therefore similarly placed as they serve in the region.”

The grant of special (duty) Allowance only to the highly-placed ones ignoring all other was a discrimination” in favour of the highly paid, it added.

The RCC has demanded extension of the Special (duty) allowance to all the Central employees in the region.

At a meeting held here recently, the RCC decided to submit a memorandum to the Govt. through the Governor in a “Mass Deputation” on January 10.

The Assam Rifles Signal Unit celebrated its 27th anniversary on January 5. The highlights of the celebrations were a Pagal Gymkhana and Barakhana which were attended by a large number of Army and Civil officials. Brig R. S. Trehan, Director NCC was the Chief Guest.

The Signal Unit was raised on this day in 1957 to provide radio and line communication for the DGAR and all the Ranges and units deployed in the North-East.

The Assam Rifles Signal Unit not only provides the radio and line communication to the Force but it also extends these facilities to the Civil administrations and civilians in the far-flung and remote areas of the region at the time of crisis and natural calamities.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee set up by the Meghalaya Govt to elicit public opinion on the controversial Byrnihat Railhead project has drawn a blank on the opening day of its sitting – on Jan 7.

Despite wide media publicity, not a single soul nor any organization appeared before the Committee to air views on the issue.

The officials and the Members of the Sub Committee waited patiently from 11.30 A.M. to 3.30 P.M. but no one turned up. there was no ready explanation available for this washout.

Political circles opposed to the project claim that it was a clear testimonial to the “people’s disapproval” of the railhead project.

Mr Grosswell Mylliemngap, who is the chairman of the Sub-Committee told this reporter that some written representations, both for and against, were earlier received from the public.

He could not exactly say whether fresh date would be announced for the purpose, or the Govt would go by whatever representations were received so far.