Governor’s address to Assembly silent on ILP
SHILLONG: As many as 4,137 illegal migrants were detected in 2013 in Meghalaya, out of whom 169 were prosecuted and 3,968 sent back, Governor Dr. K.K. Paul informed the Assembly on Friday while addressing the Budget session.
The Governor said that Meghalaya police had been making sincere efforts to check infiltration. To give a boost to the anti-infiltration drive of the police department, the Government had appointed a Director for the newly created Directorate of Anti Infiltration which was now functional, he said.
The Governor admitted that Meghalaya, which has a 443 km long international border with Bangladesh, faced serious problems of influx of Bangladeshi nationals. Another worry was the presence of bases of some of the militant organisations of the northeast in Bangladesh.
“The government is committed to complete the border fencing on the international border at a fast pace. The situation in the border has largely remained peaceful due to improved relations with our neighbour”, he said.
Border talks
On the border talks with Assam which shares 884 km of inter-state border with Meghalaya, the Governor said that the state government was taking initiatives for dialogue with the Assam Government on the boundary issues. “A series of meetings have been held with the Assam Government since 2010 and follow up measures are being taken”, he said, adding that in pursuance of the meeting held with the Union Home Minister, nodal officers representing the two states had been identified.
According to the Governor, the meeting of the two nodal officers discussed issues regarding resumption of developmental works along the inter-state boundary, without prejudice to the claims by either party so that the boundary dispute does not hinder development of these areas. “It was also agreed that law and order be maintained at any cost”, he added.
Significantly, the Governor’s address was silent on the issue of a mechanism to check the entry of outsiders to Meghalaya, though last year the state had witnessed a prolonged agitation by a pressure group of 13 organizations demanding the introduction of the Inner Line Permit system in the state. The groups are now in dialogue with the state government for the introduction of a suitable mechanism.
