SHILLONG: Opposition leader in Meghalaya Assembly and former Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma has attacked the BJP-led Central government over its inability to operationalise the border haats in the state.
Participating at a motion moved by MLAs, S K Sunn and P T Sawkime, on the issue of unemployment problem in the state and to find out solution to the problem at the ongoing Assembly session on Tuesday, the Opposition leader, Mukul Sangma asked the State Government to aggressively take up the matter of operationlisation of border haats with the Centre.
Sangma said that there was a proposal to set up as many as 22 border haats in the state but so far only 2 border haats have been set up as he questioned about the status of the rest of proposed border haats which were to be set up in the state.
The two border haats (markets) that are operational in the state include Kalaichar and Balat.
Meghalaya shares a 443-km long International border with Bangladesh. These areas were hub of trade and commerce during the pre-partition era and also after it for a while.
People from the hills of Meghalaya and plains from present day Bangladesh, carried out barter trade dealing primarily in agro products in these border haats. Some of these border haats date back to the Mughal era when trade flourished.
But after relations between the two countries soured when Bangladesh attained freedom from West Pakistan in 1971.These haats were closed and the economically well-off people in these areas lost their means of livelihood.
Slamming the BJP led Central Government, Sangma said that the Union Government since 2014 after coming into power had withdrawn its support for many schemes for the special category states of North East including Meghalaya.
“I am sure they are not going to revive and it is happening more with BJP-ruled states,” he said while castigating the Union Government for not releasing the salary of the SSA teachers in the state.
Earlier, Sangma made a clarion call to create more jobs in the state saying its more important than ever because of the vitiated environment in the country where youths of the region are no longer safe.
On the law and order front, Sangma said that the state was infected by the disease of militancy and now it has been cured.
“This is the best time and opportunity for taking the state forward and further increase the growth of momentum,