Minister questions authenticity of Bindo-led panel recommendations
SHILLONG: Giving a new twist to the ongoing standoff between Government and NGOs over implementation of ILP in the State, Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh has questioned the authenticity of the documents of the High Level Committee (HLC) on influx that had recommended the implementation of Inner Line Permit in the State.
Lyngdoh, who was one of the members of the committee, said that senior Congress ministers including her, HDR Lyngdoh and Prestone Tynsong never got any chance to preview the recommendations before the Committee made them public.
The Committee was headed by the then Deputy Chief Minister and UDP leader Bindo M Lanong.
“I am questioning the authenticity of such documents,” Lyngdoh said.
The minister also said there was no mention of signatories like herself and other Congress ministers in the documents, which raises questions on the authenticity of the documents.
“When we never got a preview of the documents, then were we there in the Committee as dummies?” an angry Lyngdoh retorted.
The statement of the minister comes at a time when the State is facing the heat with NGOs resorting to agitations demanding implementation of ILP to regulate the entry of outsiders into the state..
Lyngdoh has already taken up the matter with the Chief Minister.
Reacting to a query on the demand for introducing ILP in the State, Lyngdoh said, “ILP is anti-Indian and the fact that it has not been implemented for a very long time in the State shows that ILP is not suitable for the modern world.”
According to Lyngdoh, she is proud to be a Khasi but people must not forget that they are Indians first and Meghalayans second.
She also pointed out that the labour department had taken various measures to ensure that no illegal migrant worker enters the State unlawfully.