Meghalaya defers Garo Hills district council elections due to COVID-19

The Meghalaya government has decided to postpone the elections to Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) for an indefinite period in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, following consultations with health department officials, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said.


PTI | Shillong | Updated: 13-10-2020 17:49 IST | Created: 13-10-2020 17:49 IST
Meghalaya defers Garo Hills district council elections due to COVID-19
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The Meghalaya government has decided to postpone the elections to Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) for an indefinite period in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, following consultations with health department officials, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said. The state government will appoint a board of administrators for the 30-member local body for six months, he said.

The current term of the National People's Party-led executive committee of the council will end on October 18. "It is not easy to conduct the polls to the GHADC in the prevailing COVID-19 situation. After taking advice from the health department, we have postponed it," Sangma said.

Meghalaya's COVID-19 tally rose to 7,771 on Monday with 88 fresh cases, while 5,273 people have recovered from the disease and 64 died. A board of administrators headed by the governor will take over the council for six months, Sangma said after a cabinet meeting on Monday evening.

Constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the GHADC is one of the three autonomous district councils of the state. It looks after the affairs of the Garo tribal community. The council has jurisdiction over five districts -- East Garo Hills, West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills, North Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills.

The cabinet has also approved a proposal for setting up an entity to improve energy efficiency in the state. The decision will help achieve higher efficiency in the power sector, he said.

The government has also decided to establish a Central Bonded Warehouse (CBW) to increase the revenue generation of the excise department..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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