SHILLONG: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma on Friday said that the Government would have to keenly scrutinize the talks offer made by the pro-ILP groups before convening a ‘dialogue’ to end the prevailing stalemate.
“The Government needs to examine whether all the pressure groups are willing to have a dialogue,” Dr Sangma said while speaking to newsmen before leaving for New Delhi.
When apprised of the apprehension among the NGO leaders about their possible arrest if they came out in public, the Chief Minister said that the Government would want the NGOs to be serious about their commitment on holding a dialogue.
Making it clear that the Government wants to send out a clear message that wrong doings would not be tolerated, the Chief Minister said, “Let the pressure groups discuss among themselves. Let them have their internal exercise. We will look forward to their inputs. This is the time for them to do that and to start with they should not go ahead with any more agitational programmes.”
“We expect the pressure groups to be mature enough and more constructive in their approach and to bear in their mind the interest and future of the State as a whole.”
“The need to engage productively without indulging in activities which are not synonymous with provisions of the law is the only concern which they have to fulfill,” the Chief Minister said of the NGOs.
On the public consultation that was launched to engage all stakeholders across the State, Dr Sangma said, “The pressure groups should start engaging themselves in drawing advantage of this space of consultation. Through these engagements, at the end of the day, ideas emerge and find their rightful place in the consultation exercises, which the Government has initiated.”
Govt to compare Village Administration Bill with tenancy bill
The Chief Minister on Friday said that the Government would examine whether the Village Administration Bill of the KHADC has any similarity with the proposed Meghalaya Regulation of Landlords and Verification of Tenants Bill.
“Let the KHADC come up with the bill. We would examine it once they pass the bill and submit it to the State Government,” Dr Sangma said.
“Whatever we propose to do and enact as a law must be within the competence of the State Legislature. I am sure they (KHADC) would be examining all those aspects,” the Chief Minister said.
