Other States - Chattisgarh   

Chhattisgarh mulls ban on defections

RAIPUR, FEB. 18. The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Raman Singh, has said his government was considering to impose a ban on defection in local bodies in the State.

``We are considering to bring a legislation to ban political defection in local bodies on the lines of the law recently enacted to ban defection in Parliament and in State Legislative Asemblies,'' he told UNI here.

Pointing out that such a step would be in accordance with the spirit of the strict central legislation banning ``retail and wholesale'' defections, Dr Singh said it would help ensure political stability in local bodies and help the elected representatives to concentrate more on development initiatives.

Alleging that the previous Ajit Jogi government in Chhattisgarh had encouraged defection a grassroots level democratic institutions, the Chief Minister said ``we are now determined to curb this menace''. Legal experts were being consulted to prepare the draft of the bill, he added.

Referring to the previous Congress government's decision to abolish the concept of divisional commissioners, Dr Singh said his government would explore the possibility of re-establishing divisional offices in view of the difficulties being faced by the people. With the abolition of divisional offices, he said, people in the remote tribal areas of Bastar and Sarguja divisions have to travel to state capital for settling disputes related to revenue matters.

Replying to a question about setting up of state owned corporations and boards, which were winded up by the previous government, Dr Singh said the state government had already set up housing board and state seeds corporation.

``We will decide about setting up of new corporations after examining various aspects, including its utility and viability, on the case-to-case basis'', he added. - UNI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Chhattisgarh mulls ban on defections

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu