SHILLONG: The Jaintia Hills Truck Owners Association has criticised Chief Minister Mukul Sangma for his remark on the Marwari community and said his decision to put MMDC at the helm of mining is an attempt to take over private mines.
In a statement to the media on Thursday, the association said mining in Meghalaya is a public subject and not a state affair. “The government should not eye anything that doesn’t belong to it. Only a corrupt mind would want to snatch away public assets and suppress prosperity of the general public,” it said. It stated that when the Marwari business community has contributed to the state’s growth, the chief minister’s remark is “unfortunate”.
Sangma, while justifying the decision to rope in MMDC, had said, “What is the problem in having MMDC as a partner rather than bringing some other businessmen or Marwaris and others from outside?”
Expressing surprise at the chief minister’s determination to task MMDC with mining, the truck owners’ body said this would lead to displacement of thousands of people and bring down the standard of living to a level “lower than that of the time when the British ruled India”. “The local truck owners and drivers will be the first one to go jobless as the mining companies will be having their own fleets of trucks to transport coal,” it stated and cited the examples of Bihar and Jharkhand, the two mineral-rich states where people have no access to the natural wealth.
“All the National Green Tribunal was asking from the state government since April 17, 2014, was a proper mining plan and policy but the chief minister, instead of making one, is making the life of the general public harder and has even gone to the extent of trying to snatch away mining from the innocent people,” it pointed out and urged Sangma to formulate a policy fast. The chief minister should give up his idea of converting the government into a business entity and instead focus on developing the dilapidated roads and other welfare of people, the association said.
