Shillong, Jan 13: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has threatened to take out protest against the the deputy commissioner of South West Khasi Hills District and labour officers for their inaction with regards to the illegal entry and settlement of outsiders into the region.

“At any time we will take out a protest march to the office of the deputy commissioner and the labour officers in the different blocks as a mark of strong opposition against their failure…,” KSU-South West Khasi Hills president Forwardman Nongrem said in a statement issued here on Monday.

Nongrem also warned that the union will also be compelled to take the law in their own hands against illegal settlement of outsiders.

He said the district task force (DTF) has been constituted under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner as mandated by the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016 while the district level team (DLT) was set up as per the Work Permit Scheme to register labourers from outside the state.

In the three blocks – Mawsynram, Mawkyrwat and Ranikor, he said the government had also appointed the labour officers but unfortunately “these labour officers seem to only draw their salaries without working properly”.

Informing that an RTI was also filed by the Union in regards to registration of labourers coming from outside the state, Nongrem said it was surprising to know that there was no report of the DLT to indicate the number of such labourers who registered under the work permit scheme.

“We had also sought information about the functioning of the DTF in the district but it was found that both DTF and DLT are not functioning at all. This shows that the district authority and also the labour officers are not performing their duties but are only there for their own personal benefits,” he said.

Nongrem further alleged that the labour officers, DLT and DTF have not been seen conducting a single checking against illegal labourers or to take action against them as per law.

“We have taken up this matter with the DC on several occasions but all end up only in giving assurances with no action on the ground,” he said.

Meanwhile, the KSU has also demanded the three MLAs – HM Shangpliang (Mawsynram), Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar (Mawkyrwat) and Pius Marwein (Ranikor) to aggressively pursue the demand to implement the inner line permit (ILP). It also urged the traditional dorbars to be vigilant on the entry of outsiders in their respective jurisdiction especially after the Centre has decided to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.