Shillong, Aug. 10 -- The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) in Meghalaya on Monday approved amendments to Rules 128 and 129, clearing the way for a separate electoral roll exclusively for council elections and potentially marking the biggest overhaul of the Sixth Schedule body's electoral system since its creation in 1952.

The reform ends the Council's decades-old dependence on the electoral roll prepared for assembly elections and introduces a dedicated mechanism for determining who can vote in GHADC polls.

More significantly, the amended provisions link eligibility to vote to Scheduled Tribe (ST) status notified for Meghalaya, along with other prescribed qualifications, effectively excluding non-ST persons from the GHADC e...