To air grievances and mount pressure on the Govt, ADCs test boycott Lok Sabha poll option
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 10 2014 : With grievances piling up against the State Government, Members of Autonomous District Councils have been considering to boycott the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.

According to a well placed source, ADC Members held a meeting at Council Bhavan, Chingmeirong today and deliberated on their present status.

They also discussed about the roles they should play with regard to the 16th Lok Sabha election.

After a gap of more than 20 years, election to the ADCs was held in May 2010 with the primary objective of setting up local bodies in the hill districts of Manipur.

The election was held and contested amid all kinds of threats and disturbances.

Many of the elected Members are still unable to go home and they are staying at Imphal because of the threats back home.

On the other hand, even though powers for 26 departments have been devolved to the ADCs, the Government has been keeping the ADCs like an inanimate institution.

File pic of the CM, Dy CM and elected ADC members of Ukhrul and Senapati

Tabling all these grievances, the meeting debated whether the ADC Members should participate in the Lok Sabha election or not.

Majority of the members were of the opinion that they should stay away from the election scheduled next month.

Notably, the ADCs were set up on June 24, 2010 .

Talking with The Sangai Express separately, some ADC Members informed that the meeting held today did not take any conclusive decision of boycotting the 16th Lok Sabha election.

Nonetheless, grievances of ADC Members against the State Government were debated intensively.

If the State Government does not take up necessary steps to devolve adequate power and enable ADCs function to their full potential under the Manipur Hill Areas District Council Act in the next couple of days, the ADCs may take a harsh decision.

Excluding Government nominees, the total number of Members for the six ADCs is 144.Majority of the 144 Members are Congressmen.

Apart from the persistent demand put before the State Government for devolving adequate power, the ADCs event went to Delhi and lobbied with the Government of India but to no avail.

It is the common knowledge of all ADC Members that the incumbent Ministers and MLAs elected from hill districts have no intention to devolve adequate power to the ADCs as guaranteed by the Act.

The meeting held today at Chingmeirong was convened by the Manipur Autonomous District Council Coordinating Committee.

The meeting entrusted the committee to take a concrete decision on the existing issues in the next couple of days.