President petitioned on district council polls

Imphal, Aug 2 : The Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Councils president David k Shimray has sent an application to the President of India, Pratibha Patil for district council elections in the five hill districts of the state yesterday.

A statement released by David k Shimray said the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District Council came into existence under the North East Re-organisation Act, 1971 and had been promulgated by the Republic of India for the functioning of Autonomous District Council in the hill areas of Manipur. Its elections had also been conducted for three consecutive terms.

However, the state government suspended the election process since 1989 and consequently the minority tribals became victims, it said. In fact the Autonomous District Council is only a democratic institution particularly in five hill/tribal districts of Manipur where people can enjoy and excercise democratic rights at grassroots level. The state government has systematically ignored the socio-economic development needs of the tribals all these years, paying little attention to their needs, it added.

Further, David k Shimray said that the demand committee had submitted a memorandum and application to the state government and to the Central government for early restoration of the elections but all the efforts have so far been met with silence from all ends. He also requested the President of India to intervene personally so that the tribals of Manipur could enjoy equal democratic rights in the country.