By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The West Garo Hills district administration has given a call for a comprehensive, broad based, consultative meeting which will be held on July 1 at 11am in the DRDA conference hall in Tura.
The meeting will be attended by all senior citizens, legislators, NGOs, youth organizations, members of the United Christian Peace Forum to discuss the recent spate of violence which had its origin in Tura.
“The peace meeting shall endeavour to create confidence building measures and strategies thereof to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future. It is envisaged that through discussions and deliberations a strategy with clear timelines shall be formulated on how to deal with the problems of unrest, how to check drunken behavior and restlessness amongst the youth and how to employ them more productively,” West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi stated in a statement issued here on Sunday.
Setting up of an inter faith forum with participation of religious leaders of all religions, faith and denominations shall be the highlight of the meeting and this inter faith committee shall be duly notified by the district administration.
The inter faith committee will meet from time to time to instill faith and confidence in different communities co-existing in different localities of the town and different areas in the district.
“It will be a forum which shall immediately convene emergent meetings when there is even whiff of communal tension or a communal conflagration and shall take all possible measures to defuse the crisis and restore normalcy,” Bakshi added.
It was also informed that in the meeting, decisions on what measures can be taken to enlist the migrant labourers working in the coal mines or construction sites and to enumerate them accurately and effectively, will also be highlighted.
The idea will be to ensure their identity and also to institute measures for their safety and welfare and ensure that they receive their minimum wages and they have proper identity and registration.
It may be mentioned that there is already in place a district level task force for migrant labourers which needs more intensive and focused support in terms of manpower and administrative direction.
“The need to control deviant behavior amongst the youth shall also be the high point of the consultations as it was reported that many of the youth involved in the mob violence that resulted after the molestation of a mentally challenged girl were in an inebriated state,” the DC added.
The meeting will also discuss strategies for skills development and capacity building for the youth who are increasingly turning to alcohol and substance abuse to deflect their frustrations.
The role the senior citizens and elders of the Church and other religious bodies to counter drunkenness and rowdy behavior of the youth in the late evening hours will also be discussed at large and measures to curb on bootleggers and small time criminals who peddle drugs and banned medicines will also find space in the meeting.
Further, the meeting will also discuss specific measures to ensure effective and intensive patrolling, social control and parental control to curb unrest and deviant behavior and strict measures to punish regular defaulters and offenders.