By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Accepting the demand of several NGOs for introduction of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the State, the second meeting of high level committee on influx has unanimously decided to propose to the government for an introduction of ILP to counter influx, besides demanding more teeth to the Inter-state Workmen Act, 1979.
Informing this here on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Bindo Mathew Lanong said that the proposal for implementing ILP as suggested by the NGOs would be incorporated in the recommendations which would be submitted to the State Government.
“The Committee has been given two-month time to submit its recommendations to the Government. We are expected to start compiling our recommendations before the next meeting of the committee scheduled to be held on October 30,” Lanong, who heads the committee, said.
The second meeting of the committee took place on Monday.
“During the course of the deliberations, the NGOs opined that the ILP is one of the best possible alternatives to handle the problem of influx and illegal migration in the State,” Lanong said.
He said that it was suggested that the recommendations of the Fact Finding Team (FFT), which had conducted a detailed study in several Northeastern states where the ILP has already been introduced, should be taken into account while formulating the final recommendations.
In 2001, the then state government headed by Late EK Mawlong had constituted a fact finding committee to study the ILP and its impact in states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
Stating that the recommendations of the FTT would be of great help for the committee to pursue its task, Lanong said the committee was yet to decide on the modalities to be adopted while implementing ILP.
When asked if the Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma would support the idea of having ILP, Lanong said he did not foresee such situation “since it is the Chief Minister who had constituted this committee to find out the ways and means for tackling the problem of influx and illegal migration in the State.”
Stating that the Chief Minister is a ‘democratic person’, Deputy Chief Minister was of the view that he (Dr Sangma) would give due importance to the recommendations to be made by the committee.
He further informed that the committee also received a suggestion from the ICARE president Toki Blah for implementation of the three-tier card system.
“We would also incorporate this suggestion in our recommendations,” Deputy Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, Lanong said the issue of conflict between the law of the State Labour department and the rules of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) regarding labour licenses or work permits to migrant workers would be looked into.
“We have taken note of this fact to see that some corrective measures are being taken on this front. If there is any conflict, the State Labour Laws would always prevail,” Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds law portfolio, asserted.
Besides the members of the ten NGOs, the other prominent members of the Committee who attended the second meeting are Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, UDP legislators (Ardent M Basaiawmoit and Metbah Lyngdoh), former State Chief Information Commissioner GP Wahlang among others.