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| Ruling uproars lead to adjourn LAHDC session | | | Tsewang Rigzin
The two-day General Coun
cil session of Ladakh Au
tonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, held last week to review progress and implementation of ongoing developmental schemes, witnessed some unusual scenes as exchange of arguments between the Chairman/ Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) Dr Sonam Dawa and Councillor Upper Leh Gelong (venerable monk) Lobzang Nyantak over flood protection bunds in Leh nallah ultimately led to adjournment of the house.
Ruling member Gelong Nyantak admitted to what all happened in the General Council meeting and said the Chairman should have patience to listen the problems of each and every councillor. "It is unfortunate that rather than listening to our problems the chairman chose to adjourn the meeting in an abrupt way. If I had said anything wrong or used an unparliamentarily language, he should have marshalled me out of the meeting rather than to conclude it in an unceremonious way," he said while endorsing the suggestion of opposition calling for a fresh General Council session. Nyantak claims that he only demanded funding for Leh nallah under urban development sector. Lower Leh Councillor Phunstog Wangdan of National Conference has also supported this cause as the nallah/stream passes through his constituency as well.
It is pertinent to mention here that Gelong Lobzang Nyantak has won Upper Leh on Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket for a second consecutive term in the 5th LAHDC Elections held in October last year in which BJP won 18 seats out of 26 and formed the Hill Council with Dr. Sonam Dawa as the Chairman.
Ever since 2010 flash floods that created havoc in Leh with loss of human lives and destruction of properties, construction of protection bund for Leh nallah, a flood prone stream passing through both Upper and Lower Leh constituencies, has been an pressing demand of the people of Leh. An unprecedented flood in the nallah could be potentially dangerous for life and property in Leh if protection bunds are not constructed in time.
Councillor Korzok, Gurmet Dorjay of Congress, who is the leader of opposition in LAHDC, was quick to condemn the conduct of first GC meeting of the BJP-led LAHDC describing it something which was never witnessed in the 20 years of LAHDC since its inception. He called for a conduct of fresh General Council session so as to acquaint all new Councillors with the functioning of LAHDC in a proper way. "Internal differences and infighting amongst the Councillors of ruling party BJP surfaced on the second day interrupted the smooth functioning of the session and ultimately led to its end without taking reviews of many important departments," he regretted while accusing BJP Councillors of failing to maintain the decorum of the house.
Gelong Nyantak, an activist advocating for Ladakh's identity besides being a Councillor, further suggests that discussion and sessions of the General Council should be conducted in Ladakhi/Bhoti language as one can express freely without any hesitation in one's own mother tongue. "Holding General Council in our language will also help us with our demand to get Bhoti language recognised under the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution", he asserts. In the past two decades General Council meetings have been held in Hindi/Hindustani and English with Ladakhi as an exception for those who find it difficult in other languages. Gelong Nyantak also proposes for General Council sessions to be live telecast and broadcast by Doordarshan Leh and All India Radio (AIR) Leh so that people of Ladakh can listen to and see how their representatives are performing in Ladakh's temple of democracy.
As per section 22(1) of LAHDC Act, the General Council is required to meet at least once in every three-month for the conduct of business. The Member of Parliament from Ladakh, Member Legislative Assembly(MLA) and Member Legislative Council (MLC) representing the area are ex-officio members of General Councils as the Act says, "seating members of the Legislative of the Assembly of the State of Jammu & Kashmir and the sitting members of the House of the People representing Assembly or the Parliamentary constituency, as the case may be, in which the district is situated, shall be ex-officio members of the Council constituted for the district'. Ex-office members, however, have no voting rights in the General Council meetings.
(The article has been written under NFI Media National Media Fellowship 2015-16) |
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