By Our Reporter
Shillong: The State Government is intending to introduce a mechanism more stringent than the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to check the unabated influx into the State, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma said on Thursday.
Stating that ILP would not be able to effectively address the problem of influx in the State, Dr Sangma said, “With the ILP in place we would be able to set up check points only at certain places. But illegal migrants can enter the State from anywhere.”
Providing details about the intended institutionalised mechanism to be put in place, the Chief Minister said creation of the Directorate of Infiltration is in its ‘advanced stage’ as the State Government had already sanctioned appointment of labour officers in all the 39 blocks of the State.
“These officials would oversee the entry of migrants into the State in terms of registration and cross-checking of their antecedents,” the Chief Minister stated.
Asserting that traditional institutions have a big role to play in assisting in the fight against influx, Dr Sangma said the Government is trying to work out a strategy on how the traditional institutions and the Government departments can work together in the fight against influx. “The State Government would make use of the Sixth Schedule and empower the traditional bodies to help the Government in checking influx,” the Chief Minister added.
Dr Sangma, however, cautioned that there was a need to strike a balance between controlling migration of people from other parts of the country into Meghalaya and the Constitutional rights of citizens of the country to settle anywhere in India.
“We, therefore, need to strengthen the traditional institutions and to have a regulated framework where even the behaviour of house owners will be regulated. Through this, we will be able to come up with a mechanism more effective than the so-called Inner Line Permit,” he said.
It may be mentioned that around 10 pressure groups have called for a sit-in demonstration on September 3 to demand implementation of the Inner Line Permit in Meghalaya.
ILP is an official travel document issued by the respective state governments to a person willing to enter Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur.