As Garo Hills inches toward another high-stakes electoral battle, the unresolved salary crisis within the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has become a volatile political flashpoint. With salaries of GHADC employees pending for a staggering 43 months, mounting discontent among the workforce and their families now threatens to dent the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) at the grassroots.
Marcuise N Marak, Meghalaya State Working President Incharge of Garo Hills, acknowledged the gravity of the issue while projecting cautious optimism about NPP’s electoral footing in the region.
Asked if the party’s prospects were hampered due to the prolonged salary delays, he said, “definitely we will be facing the challenges but it is not only one issue or not the issue created by the present executive committee, it has been the legacy created by different executive committee which has been inherited sovereign therefore people understand the issue and we will be talking to the people in this regard.”
He pointed to the work done under Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s leadership, stating, “Under the leadership of Conrad Sangma much have been done in Garo Hills, people are for NPP party, they have seen the mind of activities that is happening in Garo Hills, people are there for the NPP party but as I said it will depend on the candidates we will be putting up for the elections.”
On the question of anti-incumbency sentiment brewing in the hills, Marak did not shy away from admitting its existence: “there would be because there is so many issues coming up in District Councils also, but in the party meetings I have already discussed that issue, if we need to strengthen the district council in Garo Hills we have to work very hard we have to go to the people, convinced them that this is the party where you can put your trust we will try our level best to strengthen the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council.”
As pressure mounts, the NPP will have to walk a tightrope—balancing electoral strategy with grassroots grievances, especially in a region that has often served as its political bastion.
