SHILLONG, SEPT 23: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule, if achieved, would be a victory for the people of Meghalaya and not about any party taking credit.

He was responding to a query whether the eight UDP MLAs joining the BJP are trying to take credit on the issue of inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule and resolving the coal mining issue.

“Again, it is wrong to think of it as credit. What is important is to achieve the goal. Everybody has a role to play in achieving the goal. Right now, we don’t know what the stand of the government is, whether they are going to include the languages or not. I will be the happiest person for whatever negotiations, talks, or discussions anybody might have had. If the language goes through, it’s not about BJP or NPP but it’s the victory of the people of Meghalaya,” Sangma told reporters.

Asked if he sees the development as an attempt to steal the limelight, the Chief Minister said, “For me, I don’t look at anything as limelight. For me, it is more important to find a solution to the problems. If a solution can be resolved, then that’s what gives me more happiness and satisfaction.”

On the coal mining issue, Sangma said the government has made progress since the Supreme Court lifted the ban in 2019.

“Everybody knows that we fought the case in 2019 and the Supreme Court gave a verdict in our favour that lifted the ban in 2019, but it put a condition that everything should be done in a scientific manner following the MMDR Act. And even to proceed with the MMDR Act, that requires certain conditions to be followed — for example, the area of 100 hectares has to be there, scientific mining has to be there, open cast mining has to be done and so on and so forth,” he said.

“Therefore, we have four mines functional as of now but because of the kind of seams that we have, it is not proving viable for the miners to move forward. So hence, we now have to further improve the situation. So have we moved forward? Yes, we have. Have we been able to resolve all issues concerning all the miners? Maybe not yet, because as I said, we are looking at the safety aspects, environment and the safety of the miners which requires a lot of scientific and technical aspects to be looked into, which are being resolved one by one,” he added.