UDP president and former Chief Minister Donkupar Roy, who is facing criticism for not being vocal and aggressive as Leader of Opposition to address various issues concerning the State, spoke to The Shillong Times about his dream to see UDP as the single largest party in 2018, lack of proper and practical development initiatives from the State government among other issues plaguing the State. The UDP leader also said that the State government has failed on all fronts to live up to the expectations of the people.
Excerpts from the interview:
ST: What is the future of UDP?
DONKUPAR: UDP will get more MLAs in 2018 polls than any other political parties in the State. In the last elections, we drew blank in Ri Bhoi, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills. But, this would not be the situation in 2018. I am 100% sure that UDP will get MLAs from all the districts. There will be revamping of the party and with this, the seats of UDP will go up and the party to be affected the most will be the Congress as the Centre is not ruled by the Congress compared to the past.
ST: What about the criticism against you that you are not an aggressive leader and that you are soft on many issues?
DONKUPAR: It is not my role to discuss the issues in the street whether it is Inner Line Permit (ILP) or other important issues. Why should a legislator call a crowd in the street to speak about ILP?
In the same way, why should I shout in the street to discuss the issues related to district councils?
ST: What would be the impact which BJP can create in 2018 Assembly polls?
DONKUPAR: BJP will be a factor, and this will affect Congress the most. But it is too early to say. However, the UDP does not think that there will be a problem in aligning with BJP in a post poll scenario. As far as regional parties are concerned, they should come together under one forum, though the merger of all the regional parties is impossible considering the past experience.
ST: What are your views on the performance of the Congress led Government?
DONKUPAR: I don’t see any governance. Even without this government, we would have continued to remain the same. We cannot give credit to the State government for the highway projects as they are national schemes.
I can also say that the basin development has failed, though the government considers that in the long run, there will be results. It is not a well planned initiative. Lot of money has been proposed, but it has not benefitted the rural areas.
Take the case of animal husbandry. We cannot compete in the market due to the import of cattle which are available at cheaper rates. Unless there is restriction on the import of cattle by way of taxes, there will not be any growth of animal husbandry. 20 years ago, we did not need to import cattle, but the situation has changed, and there is complacency due to the import of cattle. In the same way, the aqua culture mission is also a failure.
ST: But the Chief Minister based on a recent survey speaks about high growth rate in Meghalaya.
DONKUPAR: If one looks at the indicators of development, this is misleading as there is high infant mortality rate in the State. Education sector is the same. Educated people are going outside for jobs. There is a rise in the population of educated people including engineers who are unemployed. Look at the road connectivity. Many roads are unattended. There is undue delay in metalling, black topping and carrying out maintenance of roads. The contractors are reluctant to carry either construction or road repair works as the government is yet to clear the bills. When I was Chief Minister in 2008, we had de-sanctioned a lot of schemes since funds were not available to carry out the construction of roads.
As far as agriculture and allied sectors are concerned, there is a trend of shifting to non agricultural activities including mining and creating fish ponds. There is a need to modernize agriculture to prevent the trend. There is a growing inequality between the rich and poor in the State. The rich are becoming richer and the poor, especially in the interior areas of the State, are becoming poorer as benefits of development are not reaching them.
ST: Do you think that the government has failed in addressing militancy?
DONKUPAR: In the past, when militancy was at its zenith affecting Shillong, every one tried to find solutions. The political parties, church bodies and educationists came together. The result is for everyone to see. But in Garo Hills, the politicians have used militants in elections. This may be the reason that the government is not able to find the solution.
Secondly, there was a lot of money at NH 62 when the coal trucks used to pass through coupled with thriving coal trade which also resulted in spurt in militancy.
ST: What is your observation about the demand for resignation of Cabinet Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh?
DONKUPAR: Personally, I feel that it is up to her to decide whether to quit the post or not. Legally, there is no bar and she may continue, but morally, it is up to her whether she should continue or not.
ST: How do you view the controversy surrounding the dual posts?
DONKUPAR: The legislators spoke a lot in the Assembly about the matter during the last session. Personally, I don’t mind the separation of posts, but the timing to do that was not right. First, the government should have studied the law. The passing of the Bill prohibiting dual posts was done in a hurry. The Chief Minister cited that because of High Court, he was compelled to pass the Bill. But, he should have known that the judiciary cannot influence the legislature or the executive, instead of using the High Court as an excuse to target a particular party man. As far as the issue of MLAs holding dual posts is concerned, judiciary cannot decide on the matter as it has to be decided by the Election Commission. Judiciary can only interpret the law in line with the Constitution.
ST: What about the NGT ban on coal mining which affected the State?
DONKUPAR: If the State government had responded in time, there would not have been much suffering to the people following the ban on mining. The ruling of Supreme Court on Lafarge should be followed as far as coal mining is concerned. The environment should be protected, and at the same time there should be judicious exploration of minerals. Both the government and the people should get the maximum benefits. Like the case of Lafarge, villages should get their share while carrying out coal mining and at the same time, funds should be kept apart for the restoration of the environment and development of mining areas by those who carry out mining.