Shillong, Jan 5: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) on Friday demanded the state government to issue a notification directing all contractors/employers to restrain from hiring cheap labour without proper authentication.

In a letter to the Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh, KHNAM state youth wing president Thomas Passah said, “The Government needs to issue a notification warding all contractors/employers in the state to restrain from hiring cheap labour, without proper authentication, which could compromise the security of the state.”

The demand came after the Assam Government have published the draft National Register of Citizen (NRC) which includes names of 1.9 crore people from the total 3.29 crore applicants in Assam, the process of which began in 2013 with the objective to detect and depot illegal immigrants, mainly from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Passah said that the publication of the Draft NRC have sparked possibility of illegal immigrants from Assam to spread or take shelter in to neighbouring state of Assam especially with the statement of Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also in charge of the citizenship register, that illegal immigrants will be detected and depot.

Stating that Meghalaya has been a soft target to illegal influx due to the long distance of interstate border between both the states, he said, “The KHNAM State Youth Wing is looking at the matter with great concern for the welfare of the indigenous citizen of the state, therefore, due to the demanding situation strict vigil of border area/outpost and checking of illegal immigrants needs to be on the top priority of the Government.”

The leader of the KHNAM also said that additional forces needs to be deployed at these border areas especially at area termed as disputed area between two states.

According to him, the infiltration check gated needs to be provided with additional forces and strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) needs to be frame for effectiveness of these infiltration check gates.