SHILLONG: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has summoned the Chief Secretary Y. Tsering to appear on July 12 in New Delhi during a hearing on the Punjabi Lane issue.
The letter to the chief secretary issued by the under secretary, NCM, said the commission had taken suo motu action and deputed its member Manjit Singh Rai on June 5 and 6 to Shillong to assess the situation.
The NCM official said that a letter issued on July 19, 2017 was earlier sent to NCM and this was shown to Rai.
The letter states that there was no immediate plan for removal or relocation of the Punjabi Lane residents.
The NCM official said the commission on June 13 considered the report of Rai and it was decided that the Ministry of Home Affairs may be requested not to remove the security force deployed to control the situation till peace is restored and chief secretary may be requested not to take any steps to relocate the Punjabi Lane residents since they had been staying there for over 200 years.
Following this, letters were sent to the Home Ministry and chief secretary on June 14 related to the decision of the commission.
The commission also quoted media reports on government asking the illegal settles to vacate the area.
In this regard, the commission has decided to hold the hearing on July 12.
“No further action on relocation will be carried out till the appearance of the chief secretary”, the commission said.
