Governor to take over Archives

Shillong Oct 12: Elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) would not be held due to the with the state cabinet deciding to postpone the elections and to hand over the Council to the Governor Satya Pal.

This decision was taken by the Meghalaya cabinet in a meeting chaired by the chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday.

The Governor, Satya Pal Malik will ⁰take over the Council till a date is announced for holding fresh elections.

After the cabinet meeting, chief minister, Conrad K Sangma said that the elections to the GHADC have to be postponed in view of the COVID-19 situation, and the Governor will take over the affairs of the Council.

He said that as per the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, the term of the Council can be extended upto six months, and in this case, the Council now is under the control of the Governor who would appoint a deputy commissioner or an officer to take charge of the Council.

The cabinet decision came in the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ally of the NPP-led MDA government demanding that the Governor should take over the GHADC if elections cannot be held within this month to elect new members of the Council.

The BJP has also demanded that an inquiry by the CBI should be conducted into the alleged misappropriation of Central fund which was given to the GHADC under the Special Assistance Grants (SAG) to develop the tribal areas.

The GHADC has 29 elected members of district council (MDCs), and one member is nominated by the Governor.

The five-year tenure of the GHADC began on October 19, 2015, and will expire on October 18, 2020.

The last elections to the GHADC were held on October 12, 2015, and counting of votes on October 15, 2015.