No decisions yet on coal, border & language
SHILLONG: The Centre’s non-response to the much-hyped Meghalaya Assembly resolution in favour of implementation of Inner Line Permit in the state appears to be in keeping with other similar moves in the past.
BJP leader and Health Minister AL Hek has, of course, said that getting the nod for the ILP is not like climbing up a tree and plucking a fruit.
In other words, waiting is the name of the game; it is a game the people of the state are familiar with.
Take for instance the resolution on border commission.
The state Assembly passed the resolution on March 16, 2011, urging the Centre to constitute a commission to settle the inter-state boundary dispute on the basis of historical, ethnic and linguistic linkages.
The Assam Assembly had on December 19, 2011, passed a counter-resolution, opposing the formation of any boundary commission.
The Congress has already expressed concerns over the possible use of disputed areas in Assam as a safe haven for refugees in the context of CAA implementation.
Almost nine years down the line, the Centre is yet to consider the matter as it wanted both Assam and Meghalaya to amicably settle the matter.
More followed.
The Assembly had also passed two resolutions to exempt Meghalaya from the purview of central mining laws to enable coal mining which was banned in the state in 2014.
On September 24, 2015, the Assembly passed the resolution to urge the Centre to consider invoking Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution to ensure that the central mining laws do not apply in scheduled areas of the state.
Yet again in 2018, the current government had passed another resolution reiterating the need to exempt Meghalaya from the purview of central mining laws by way of a presidential notification as per the provisions of Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule.
On November 27, 2018, the Assembly had passed a resolution urging the Centre to include the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.
There has been no response from the Centre regarding the demand to accord official recognition to Khasi and Garo languages.
It remains to be seen how long it will take for the Centre to take a decision on ILP in the context of protests against CAA.
The Centre had hurriedly approved ILP in Manipur following the anti-CAA agitation which revived the demand for ILP in Meghalaya.
A delegation of the state government is expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in January to pursue the matter.
Waiting is the name of the game. It is, after all, not about plucking fruits.