Shillong (Meghalaya) [India], March 16 : The Meghalaya Cabinet on Monday decided to extend the tenure of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) by six months, beginning April 18.
The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting that had only one agenda: to deliberate on the future of the council's current term.
Announcing the decision, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said the Cabinet carefully discussed the situation before arriving at the conclusion.
"We had only one agenda in today's Cabinet meeting, and that was regarding the extension of the term of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council. After detailed deliberation and discussion on all aspects, the Cabinet has decided to extend the term of the present House for a period of six months, from April 18 to October 18," Tynsong stated.
Meanwhile, political developments also unfolded within the council on the same day. Tynsong informed that Albinus R Marak stepped down as the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the council earlier in the day.
"I am happy to inform you that this morning the Chief Executive Member of the District Council, Shri Albinus R. Marak, resigned from his post. Later in the afternoon, the House elected a new Chief Executive Member, Shri Dhormonot CH Sangma," the Deputy Chief Minister said.
With the formation of the new Executive Committee, Tynsong said the government will now leave key policy decisions to the council's leadership.
"Now that the new Executive Committee is in place and the term has been extended for another six months, we leave it to the wisdom of the new Executive Committee to take a call on important issues, including the Scheduled Tribe matter and the question of contesting elections by both tribal and non-tribal candidates in the GHADC," he added.
The extension is expected to provide the council more time to address pending administrative and policy matters before fresh elections are held later this year.