SHILLONG: Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday said there are limits to what an administrator can do, and the extension of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council’s term is linked to the need to amend AD rules following violent protests against non-tribal participation in the council polls.
Responding to demands to bring the GHADC under administrator’s rule, Tynsong said, “See, let me explain it very clearly. If you say you don’t have to extend the administration of the district council in the form of public representatives, let me tell you that if the government takes over, we call it administrator’s rule. If an administrator is appointed, there is a limit for the administrator to pass the bill as this is linked to the amendment of the rules and the Act.”
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“So therefore, they cannot just talk in that way because this is purely the issue of regulation, the issue of amendment of rules and regulation. There is nobody who can do that except the House inside the district council,” he stated.
Citing these challenges, Tynsong said the government was compelled to extend the House.
“Therefore, taking into consideration these challenges we have, we are bound. That is why the government has to extend the House for six months so that within this period they will be able to take it inside the House, decide and make the amendment,” he said.
The extension comes after violent protests erupted over the issue of non-tribal participation in the council’s elections, prompting calls for postponement of the GHADC polls, which were earlier fixed to be held on April 10, to pave the way for bringing changes to the AD rules.
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On the GHADC separate electoral roll, Tynsong said the delimitation committee is currently working on it.
“Right now the delimitation committee is on the job. They are on the job. I have no information but in the order we have already told them they have to complete this process within three months,” he added.