Shillong, Nov 15: The Meghalaya government has committed to speed up the process of setting up entry and exit point.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma who met representatives of 13 NGOs and they expressed concerns over the delay to set up entry and exit points that would help to address influx problem.
The Chief Minister also held a separate meeting with the Hynñiewtrep Youth Council on the issue related to addressing influx issue including the demand to implement Inner Line Permit.
“We have told them (13 groups) the process is complicated. But in the last few months, things have moved much faster than the last year. Therefore, there is a strong sense of commitment and even the NGOs appreciate that there are difficulties and expressed that they want to see things move much faster. We are working towards starting the process in certain locations,†he said.
He said that there are around 41 locations for setting up of entry/exit points and it will not be possible for the government to start in all 41 locations because of land acquisition and financial constrain.
“There are certain key areas which we need to move on. There is one location where everything has been completed and now only cheque payment has to be made which the DC will do in a very short time,†Conrad said, adding that five to six locations are critical ones where land acquisition would be taken up within three months.
On the KHADC move to implement ILP, the Chief Minister said that ILP is something which is not within the jurisdiction of the KHADC nor the state, it is something which the parliament has to enact.
“We are always concern about the main issue (influx) and I must say all the NGOs involved in today’s discussion and political leaders realised that the issue of influx and protection of our people. ILP is one point that some people feel is the only solution, and I think we should focus on the ILP as an issue, because infiltration will always remain an issue and there are mechanisms to check infiltration,†the Chief Minister said.
