The decision to send back the bill was taken in a cabinet meeting here yesterday.
''After going through the suggestions from the traditional bodies and other stakeholders, we have decided to allow further deliberation on the matter,'' Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said after the cabinet meeting.
Municipal Affairs Minister Prestone Tynsong said the Meghalaya Community Participation Bill, 2010 was not approved by the Cabinet for the sake of conducting municipal elections only but there were also other issues like reservation for indigenous tribes in the municipal wards, 33 per cent reservation for women and increase of tenure for the ward commissioner from four to five years.
The Municipal Affairs Minister also said the areas of concern of the traditional bodies would be finetuned before the bill is made into a law.
Earlier, traditional headmen, under the banner of Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong (SRS), had decided to oppose any move to hold the municipal elections on the ground that it might hamper the working of the traditional institutions in the state.
The president of SRS HP Oflyn Dohling had also warned of boycotting the elections if the government goes with its move to hold the municipal elections.