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Peter Garnett Marbaniang was an Indian parliamentarian, legislator and academic from the state of Meghalaya. He served as a Member of the Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1996, as Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and as a Minister in the Government of Meghalaya. He was the President of the All India Catholic Union from 1994 to 1996.

Political career

He was a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly between 1972 and 1983. He served as a minister in the State government from 1975 to 1983. He was re-elected to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly between 1988 and 1989, serving as Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. Peter Garnett Marbaniang represented the Shillong Lok Sabha Constituency of Meghalaya from 1989 to 1996 in the Lok Sabha.

Lok Sabha

Peter Garnett Marbaniang represented the Shillong Lok Sabha Constituency of Meghalaya from 1989 to 1996 in the Lok Sabha He was elected from the Shillong constituency in 1988 to the Ninth Lok Sabha with 148,657 votes, or 50.77% of the total, running on the Indian National Congress ticket. He was re-elected in 1991 to the Tenth Lok Sabha with 144,895 votes, or 48.75% or the total.

In the Lok Sabha, he was a member of Committees on Public Accounts, Public Undertakings, Transport and Tourism, Business Advisory and General Purposes. He was nominated as a member of the panel of Chairmen of the Lok Sabha in 1992.

Meghalaya Legislative Assembly

Peter Garnett Marbaniang was a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly between 1972 and 1983 and was re-elected to the Assembly between 1988 and 1989, serving as Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. During his tenure as a member of the House, he served as Chairman of the Estimates Committee of the Assembly.

He was part of the Indian Parliamentary Delegation to the 34th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Canberra which was held between 14 and 25 September 1988. The Indian Delegation was led by Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the then Deputy-Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and also consisted of Dr. Najma Heptullah. The Conference discussed subjects including "International peace and security; AIDS: The nature of the disease, its spread, containment efforts, the role of Parliamentarians in helping contain the threat and Public Education Programme; Environmental protection in relation to population growth, industrialization and urbanization; and The Commonwealth response to super power disarmament issues".

District Council

He was the Chairman of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council from 1975 to 1983. The Autonomous District Council is one of the three autonomous district councils within Meghalaya, and one of twenty-five autonomous regions of India. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states.

Christian leader

Marbaniang was a member of the All India Catholic Union (AICU). He was a vice-president during the tenure of Chhotebhai Noronha as president of the union (1990-1994), and in 1990 accompanied Chhotebhai in a meeting of minority leaders with prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh. Marbaniang served as President of the AICU from 1994 to 1996, being succeeded by Norbert D'Souza. In May 1995 Marbaniang promised to take up the question of introducing a Christian Marriage Bill in parliament. The purpose was to eliminate injustices in laws related to divorce and adoption by Christians.

In March 1996 the government failed to pass a bill that would extend special statutory benefits to Christians of Dalit origin. Marbaniang had met the prime minister at least ten times and asked repeatedly for the introduction of the Dalit bill. It was withdrawn on a procedural technicality. Marbaniang said the Congress party would have to pay "a heavy price for ignoring the four-decade-old Christian demand" in upcoming general elections. Marbaniang left the party, giving the "dictatorial attitude" of its leadership as his reason.

Education

Peter G Marbaniang was educated at Guwahati University where he received his M.A and LL.B.

Interests

Peter was the President, Meghalaya Table Tennis Association and Meghalaya Volleyball Association.

Legacy

Peter G. Marbaniang died in Shillong on 29 September 1997 at the age of 58 years. He was a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and Minister of Social Welfare in the State Government at the time of his death. His wife, Q.E. Lyngdoh, died on 20 January 2010 at the age of 71, leaving behind nine children and 19 grandchildren. His son, Robert G. Lyngdoh, was twice elected to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly who served as Home Minister in the State Government . His daughter, Ampareen Lyngdoh, is a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly who was a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Meghalaya.

References

1. ^ "XI LOK SABHA DEBATES, Session VI (Winter)". Parliament of India. 19 November 1997. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
2. "NAME OF THE SPEAKERS OF THE MEGHALAYA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY". megassembly.gov.in. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
3. ^ "Office Bearers". All India Catholic Union. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
4. "Result Of Shillong (Meghalaya) in 1989". IBNPolitics.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
5. "Result Of Shillong (Meghalaya) in 1991". IBNPolitics.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
6. ^ "Members Bioprofile". 164.100.47.194. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
7. "Lok Sabha Panel of Chairman 1992".
8. Kashyap, Dr. Shubhash C. (December 1988). "The Journal of Parliamentary Information, 1988" (PDF).
9. "Sixth Schedule, The Constitution of India" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
10. Chhotebhai Noronha (5 December 2008). "V. P. SINGH: AN ENIGMA OR ENEMA?". Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
11. George Iype (28 May 1995). "Church groups pushing for better marriage law" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2012.
12. Anto Akkara (21 March 1996). "POLITICAL SETBACK FOR INDIA'S "LOW-CASTE" CHRISTIANS". EWTN News. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
13. ^ "Congress may sack senior Meghalaya party leader". Oneindia. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
14. "OBITUARY". Meghalaya Times. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
15. RAJU DAS (2 April 2009). "UDP weakens further in Meghalaya". Assam Tribune. SHILLONG. Retrieved 17 April 2012.

• 1939 births
• 1997 deaths
• Meghalaya politicians
• India MPs 1989–1991
• India MPs 1991–1996
• Lok Sabha members from Meghalaya
• India MPs 1998–1999
• India MPs 1999–2004
• India MPs 2004–2009
• State cabinet ministers of Meghalaya
• Meghalaya MLAs 1972–1978
• Meghalaya MLAs 1978–1983
• Meghalaya MLAs 1988–1993