Constitution of committee on defence land transfer
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government is yet to form a committee to pursue with the Union Defence Ministry for re-transfer of certain stretch of the defence land to the State Government.
Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma had assured the State Assembly during its last session in March that the Government would immediately set up the committee.
“We would notify the committee within a day or two,” Chief Minister had said on the floor of the House.
But surprisingly after nearly three months, the Government is yet to notify the committee.
Expressing his astonishment over this delay, UDP Working President Paul Lyngdoh, who had moved a resolution in the Assembly, said the committee should have been constituted by the end of the last Assembly session.
“I failed to understand why the Government is taking so much time in constituting the committee,” he said here on Tuesday.
“The committee should be constituted at the earliest since it is an issue which concerns the overall interest of citizens of the State,” the UDP Working President said.
It may be recalled while replying to the resolution in the last Assembly session, Dr Mukul said the land is required for the most critically important public purposes, and not only the civilian population but the armed forces would also stand to benefit immensely from this.
In the vicinity of Shillong alone, the Chief Minister said defence authorities occupied about 2,096.12 acres. “Against this, the total area we have been asking for transfer works out to only about 97 acres, which constitutes only 4.58% of the area with the armed forces,” he informed.