Meghalaya alert against 48-hr bandh call by banned outfit

Meghalaya government chief advisor DD Lapang in a statement said that the government was trying to remove all doubts, omission and commission in the draft Bill.

Meghalaya has sounded an alert across the state in view of a 48-hour bandh from Tuesday evening called by the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), which claims to be fighting for the cause of the Khasi and Jaintia communities of the hill state.

The bandh has been called by the outfit protesting alleged delay in passing of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (Village Administration) Bill, one that is intended at providing more financial powers to the village councils.

The HNLC, an armed outft also complained that the state government had failed to find a solution to the on-going crisis arising out of heads of several traditional tribal bodies demanding early passage of the said Bill.

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The state government on Monday appealed to the outfit to call off the bandh in view of its decision to convene a meeting with the two district councils – Khasi Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) on May 27 to resolve the issue arising out of the pending KHAD (village administration) Bill, 2014.

Meghalaya government chief advisor DD Lapang in a statement said that the government was trying to remove all doubts, omission and commission in the draft Bill. The state government wants to ensure that the Bill does not cause conflict between the powers of the central and state government. Moreover, the Bill does not propose to curtail the powers of the autonomous district councils, he said.

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