NEW DELHI: Meghalaya will have four more haats, or local markets, on the Indo-Bangladesh border by the end of this year following an MoU inked recently between the two countries. The State already has two border haats at Kalaichar and Balat.
At least six more border haats will open soon on the India-Bangladesh frontier – four in Meghalaya and two in Tripura, ministry sources said here on Friday. Both India and Bangladesh are working out the details of the draft proposal, the sources said.
By the end of the year, the new MoU on the border haats should be ready as the locations have also been finalised.
At the consultation conference, stakeholders from Bangladesh, Tripura and Meghalaya demanded better infrastructure at the existing border markets.
A significant aspect of the growing Indo-Bangladesh ties has been the setting up of border haats in the North East. The markets were thriving centres of trade and commerce across the borders till the partition of the sub-continent in 1947. Studies indicate that some haats existed even at the time of the Mughal rule in India.
Local produce from remote areas are traded in these markets as per the traditional system using local currency or bartering. Though not significant as a percentage of bilateral trade, these measures help to improve economic well-being of the marginalised section of society.
It was agreed that the border haats would be established on a pilot basis at selected areas, including on the Meghalaya border, to allow trade in specified products and in accordance with the regulations agreed and notified by the governments of both countries.
