Governor urged to downsize Executive Committee of NCHAC

 A Correspondent

Haflong, April 12: In regards to downsizing of the Executive Committee of NC Hills Autonomous Council, the Waimijing, a front-liner NGO of Haflong submitted a memorandum to the Assam Governor during his visit to Haflong on Wednesday. The memorandum signed by the president and general secretary of Waimijing said that the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) had a total of 30 members, of which 28 were elected and two members were nomited by him. Out of the 30 members, 14 members form the Executive Committee (parallel to the Council of Ministers), which is almost 50 per cent of the total members. Given that there is one chairman and vice-chairman, the total members holding the office comes to 16.

 Now, in the Union Cabinet the strength of the ministry is 15 per cent of the total members of the Parliament and so is the case of the State Cabinet. In fact in Assam, at present 10 Council of Ministers are looking after the State subjects and also those in the Concurrent list. However, in case of the NCHAC, with just 30 departments, the cabinet strength is 14 members.

 This is a strain on the resources of the council as the upkeep of the large Executive Committee costs the council a large sum of money and the matter is more significant given the fact that the council cannot pay salary to its employees for almost a year. Earlier, the justification for having a large Executive Committee was that there was instability in the council and a large committee accommodating 50 per cent of the total strength of the Council brought about stability. But now with the passage of the Anti-Defection Law, the threat of members leaving the party is gone. Hence a large Executive Committee is not required. They requested the Assam Governor to look into their grievances and to take necessary action.