That an engineer of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) was first assaulted by some group in South West Khasi Hills and later even had to take shelter in a forest to save his life is a crime requiring immediate attention. This cannot be pushed under the carpet like other heinous crimes committed in this State time and again. Government of India and the Ministry of Road Transport should take this matter seriously as the engineer is an employee of the NHIDCL which is a fully owned Company of the Ministry of Roads and Surface Transport. The culprits that assaulted the engineer must be arrested post haste. Police have to deliver.
The abysmal law and order situation is borne out by the fact that the militant outfit HNLC not only fired at and injured a businessman Dharambir Bansal in Shallang, West Khasi Hills but also audaciously claimed responsibility for the crime and even reminded everyone that they had earlier carried out an IED blast at Bansal’s coal and coke factory in February. To justify its crime HNLC accused Bansal of being involved in several illegal businesses and benami trade. They also used that old ruse about Bansal not providing jobs to local unemployed people. What the HNLC failed to mention is their own role in the extortion racket and that the threat to Bansal is to ensure compliance to extortion demands.
Interference in business transactions by people engaged in protection rackets is not new in Meghalaya. From fruit and vegetable vendors to fish vendors, all pay their share of protection money to groups that are erroneously termed NGOs. The case of an e-commerce company Amazon.in having to shut down two of its outlets under duress from the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) is another case in point. Can groups meddling with business enterprises in a competitive environment be called NGOs? And should the law not take its course in such a situation? Is this not a violation of rules governing business administration? Can any outsider dictate terms to an entrepreneurship/business to employ people of their choice? Don’t businesses flourish in an environment where the best, most competent and hard working people are employed? These are the basic rules of doing business. If the environment in Meghalaya and the state cannot provide basic security to entrepreneurs then it might as well kiss goodbye to employment generation. Businesses don’t operate like governments, which continue to pay employees despite their non-performance.
What’s even more surprising is that the police have summoned the HYC for discussions. Is this how the Government is going to deal with all disruptive forces? By negotiating with them? Law and order is a pre-requisite to ease of doing business. If the MDA Government does not improve on this front then Meghalaya will become ungovernable.