SHILLONG, JULY 22: Meghalaya Governor Dr Krishan Kant Paul on Monday said that the proposed amendment bill of Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Constitution of District Council) (Amendment) Rules, 2013 seeking delimitation of the MDC constituencies would be examined by the state government.
Paul has assured a delegation of twenty-one traditional heads from Laitkroh constituency led by local MDC Carmel Sohtun who met him requesting him to delay his assent to the proposed bill.
“The governor has assured that the bill would be examined by the government before taking the final call,” Sohtun told reporters after meeting Paul on Monday.
The demand to withhold the assent to the bill came after KHADC had proposed to do away with the Laitkroh constituency in East Khasi hills district as part of the delimitation that was tabled in the last session of the district council.
Sohtun said, “We have also requested the government to consider the need to call for a public hearing before going ahead with the decision of delimitation of the constituencies.”
Sohtun is opposed to the delimitation as it deletes the Laitkroh constituency from where he was elected in the last assembly session.
According to Sohtun, most of the villages under the constituency have expressed their opposition to the decision of the KHADC and termed the pushing of the bill as an act of bulldozing the rights of the people since the decision was taken without consulting the traditional heads.
Former governor RS Mooshahary had forwarded the same representation submitted to him to the District Council Affairs department of the state government.
The proposed delimitation bill has also drawn severe criticism from the traditional heads and ngos of West Khasi hills region even as they have threatened to boycott the upcoming 2014 MDC elections if government fails to comply with their demands.- By Our Reporter
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