Shillong, Aug. 10: Elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) will be held on October 12, while counting of votes will take place on October 15.

In a communiqué, the commissioner and secretary (district council affairs) released the approved programme for holding a general election this year in every constituency of the council for re-constitution of the GHADC on expiration of the present duration.

The GHADC has 30 members, 29 of them being directly elected through elections, while one is nominated. The 29 constituencies are spread across the five districts of the Garo hills.

The last date for filing of nomination papers is September 21 while scrutiny of the papers would be held the same day. The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers is September 24 while voting will take place on October 12 from 7am to 4pm.

On August 3, the Meghalaya government endorsed a proposal to bring the GHADC under "administrator's rule" from August 18 until the elections to the council are completed.

Meghalaya governor V. Shanmuganathan today gave his assent to the cabinet decision to impose the administrator's rule.

"We received a file from the Raj Bhavan this morning, where the governor has given his assent to the state cabinet's decision to impose administrator's rule in GHADC," official sources said.

West Garo Hills deputy commissioner Pravin Bakshi was appointed administrator of the council.

The elections to the GHADC could not be held during the extended period before August 17. Elections to the council were due since February 2014.

The cabinet first extended the GHADC's tenure for six months from February 18, 2014.

When the six-month period expired on August 17, 2014, and the "Agreed Text for Settlement" with the ANVC and its breakaway faction, ANVC (B) was yet to be approved by the Centre, the cabinet extended the council's tenure for the second time by another six months until February 17, 2015.

Again, on December 17, 2014 the state cabinet, though it decided to hold elections to the GHADC, extended the council's tenure for the third time by a month from February 18, 2015 to March 19, 2015 to give time to the district council affairs department to prepare for the proposed polls.

However, on January 6, the government decided not to hold elections to the GHADC on the ground that the Centre had assured to increase the number of seats in the GHADC by amending the Sixth Schedule. Thereafter, the state cabinet extended the council's tenure for another six months from February 18 to August 17.

The Union home ministry had written to the state government saying the proposal for amending the Sixth Schedule should be in line with the provisions, which were a part of the "Agreed Text for Settlement" between the government and the ANVC, and a request was made by the ministry to consider extension of the council's term by another six months so that the Centre could take measures for Parliament's consideration.

However, the Centre again wrote to the state government stating that the amendments to the relevant provisions of the Sixth Schedule would take more time, and that the state government could consider holding of elections as and when it deemed fit.