SHILLONG : The Meghalaya Cabinet has approved another six-month extension of the term of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), allowing more time to complete the ongoing delimitation and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise before the council elections are held.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday.
Cabinet Minister and MDA spokesperson Wailadmiki Shylla said the extension was the only formal agenda discussed during the meeting.
“There was just one formal agenda and that was the extension of the term of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council for six months for conducting election,” Shylla said.
He explained that the GHADC elections could not be held earlier due to the situation that had developed in Garo Hills. The council’s term had previously been extended by six months following the incident and related developments in the region.
Shylla said the latest extension has become necessary as the delimitation and SIR processes are still underway.
The previous six-month extension is scheduled to expire on October 17.
“Because we have to do the delimitation and we have to do the SIR, the process is still on and the last time we extended for six months, so that six months will end on October 17,” Shylla said.
He added that the law provides for the council’s term to be extended by up to one year in total, through two extensions of six months each.
“Before that, as you know, there is provision that we can extend the election in totality for one year, that is six plus six months,” Shylla said.
The Cabinet therefore decided to use the remaining six-month provision to allow the delimitation and SIR exercises to be completed before conducting the GHADC elections.
Shylla said the government expects the processes to be completed within the extended period and expressed hope that the GHADC elections can be held within the next six months.
The latest decision means the GHADC elections will be deferred once again, with the government now having another six months to complete the preparatory exercises required before the polls.