Setting up of entry & exit points to control influx
SHILLONG: In its bid to speed up the process of setting up entry and exit points in Meghalaya, the State Government has directed the Meghalaya Institute of Governance to complete the social impact assessment within two months which will pave way for construction of the points to check influx.
The directive came from Chief Minister Mukul Sangma after his meeting with members of pro ILP pressure groups on the status of the comprehensive mechanism to check influx in the State.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, KSU president Daniel Khyriem said the social impact assessment will be conducted for the proposed 14 entry/exit points located in the different parts of the State, notified by the government earlier.
Social impact assessment is mandatory under the new Land Acquisition Act, in which the State government has to ensure that local residents have no objection to any proposed project.
During the meeting, the chief minister informed that 14 teams will be carrying out the SIA to ensure that the process is completed at the earliest.
According to Khyriem, the pressure groups are happy that the State government has done its duty towards facilitating the implementation of the comprehensive mechanism.
Meanwhile, the State government also assured the pressure groups that the Meghalaya Tenants Verification and Regulation Bill, 2016 and the Meghalaya (Benami Transactions Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2016 would be introduced in the State Assembly. However, the pressure groups will sit for another round of meeting with the State government to ensure that the two bills are further fine tuned before they are placed before the Assembly as the government is yet to incorporate the suggestions put forth by the pressure groups in the drafts of both the bills.
FKJGP president Joe Marwein said they want to include the ‘detection’ provision in view of the fact that though the Benami Transaction Act, 1980 has been in existence for years, yet not a single complaint or conviction has been seen in the State under the benami transactions.
He also mentioned that the pressure groups want the government to ensure that the local indigenous tribes are exempted from the purview of the Tenancy Bill.
The pressure groups also proposed changing the name of the Benami Act, 1980 by adding the word ‘prohibition’ and ‘detection’ since the propose amendment bill does not have the word ‘detection’ in its nomenclature.