SHILLONG: The 13 pressure groups spearheading the demand for implementation of ILP in the State have accused Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma of misleading the people of the State with his repeated remarks that the ILP was a Central subject.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday on behalf of the 13 pro-ILP pressure groups, HNYF general secretary Sadon Blah said that the stand of the NGOs was vindicated with Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde stating that as per the Constitution the ILP was a State subject.
“We knew right from the beginning of our ILP agitation that this issue (ILP) falls under the State subject of the Constitution of India; hence we have been firm in our demand for the implementation of the same,” Blah said.
Blah said that the State Government, under the leadership of Dr. Mukul Sangma has time and again misled the people of the State by stating that the issue of implementation of ILP falls under the Central list.
“The Chief Minister’s repeated statement that ILP cannot be implemented by the State Government means that he is either lacking in knowledge on the Constitutional status of the ILP or that his statement was intentionally meant to mislead the people of the State,” Blah added.
“This defeats the earlier statement of Dr. Mukul Sangma when he had said that the Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry had sent a letter to the State Government mentioning that ILP cannot be implemented in the State of Meghalaya. So we the NGOs will not buy the ploy of the State Government which seems to go by the maxim that if you cannot convince them then confuse them,” Blah added.
The pressure groups also expressed their gratitude to Shillong MP Vincent Pala for having raised the issue of ILP in the winter session of Parliament.
Shinde’s remark confirms my argument: Lanong
Senior UDP leader Bindo Mathew Lanong on Tuesday ‘claimed victory’ over Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s statement that the subject of ILP was under the State List.
“The statement of the Union Home Minister has confirmed my argument that ILP is a State subject,” Lanong said here on Tuesday.
He pointed to a way out for the Chief Minister, saying that the Government should immediately invite the pressure groups for talks to find out a solution to the ILP impasse which would be acceptable to both the parties.
“The Government along with the NGOs can work out a modified ILP as recommended by the High Level Committee on Influx,” Lanong said.
Replace Land Transfer Act with new law: JYF
The Jaintia Youth Federation (JYF) which is part of the conglomeration of 13 pro-ILP pressure groups, has urged Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma to pass a new law under the nomenclature ‘The Meghalaya Ownership, Possession and Transfer of Land (Regulation) Bill, 2013’, and to repeal The Meghalaya Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act, 1971 as amended.
The JYF was reacting to the appeal of the Chief Minister to suggest an alternate mechanism to ILP to check influx in the State.
The proposed Bill as put forward by JFY highlights that land in Meghalaya “shall not be transferred by an indigenous tribal to a non-tribal or by a non-tribal to another non-tribal; provided that no land in Meghalaya will be transferred by a non-tribal to another non-tribal except with the previous sanction of the competent authority”.
As per the proposal of JYF, land possession “may be transferred from an indigenous tribal to a non-tribal individual/ institution/ corporate bodies/ bodies of individuals/ Government only through lease deeds which should be drawn and executed between the indigenous land owner or owners and other parties to the lease deed/ agreement