Imphal Naga Forum (INF) called on the state government for the conduct of Autonomous District Council (ADC) elections with greater autonomy and financial authority, expressing deep concern over the prolonged delay in these polls in the hill districts of Manipur.
State government has made a series of promises to the people of Manipur to conduct the local bodies elections like the Municipalities, Panchayats and Autonomous District Council elections in the recent past, but it’s assurances to the people have not been translated into actions till date, stated a release.
The latest cabinet decision, on June 13, 2024, was communicated to the Secretary of the Manipur State Assembly by the Deputy Secretary of TD & Hills on July 24, 2024, seeking input from the Hill Areas Committee regarding this decision on local body elections, it mentioned.
Furthermore, the Chief Minister’s secretary, N Geoffrey, sent a letter to the Special Chief Secretary on June 24, 2024, requesting the Hill Areas Committee’s opinions on conducting ADC polls as per the cabinet directive, it stated.
ADC elections which was due to be held in the month of June, 2020 was put on hold due to the outbreak of Covid-19 which had become a pandemic halted the process of holding the ADC polls. But the State and Parliamentary polls have been held successfully amid the pandemic, it added.
The statement expressed dismay over the chairman of the Hill Areas Committee’s failure to convene a meeting of hill MLAs to reach a definitive decision regarding the much-anticipated ADC polls.
INF called on the Hill Areas Committee to initiate ADC elections in the six districts, excluding the newly created four districts. The reason for the chairman’s inaction remains unclear and is “best known to him,” according to the forum, it said.
Local self-governance and grassroots democracy have been effectively denied to the hill communities for the past four years, despite persistent demands from various tribal civil society organisations for early ADC elections. The absence of elected ADC members in the hill areas, developmental activities, programmes projects have taken a back seat. The local developmental issues cannot be addressed and sorted out because of the non- existence of elected ADC members, it mentioned.
The forum urged the Chairman HAC not to delay the recent cabinet decision but to convene an early meeting of the HAC and convey its decision to the State Government to conduct the long pending and much awaited ADC polls with more autonomy and financial power in the immediate future, it stated.
If the ADC polls are not held in a time bound manner, then people have no other viable option but to resort to various forms of intense agitations and protest to press for early elections to the Autonomous District Councils, it added.
