Govt to send resolution to Centre today
SHILLONG: The state government has notified the ILP resolution in the official gazette and it will be sent to the Centre on Monday for approval.
An official source said on Sunday that the Political department has notified the resolution in the Meghalaya gazette on Friday.
After the resolution was passed by the Assembly unanimously on Thursday, the Assembly Secretariat had officially forwarded it to the Political department on Friday.
“We have notified the resolution in the official gazette on Friday and the same will be forwarded to Delhi on Monday”, the official said.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is expected to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah after Christmas for the approval of the ILP resolution by the Centre.
According to Conrad, a Presidential notification like in the case of Manipur after incorporating the word ‘Meghalaya’ in the preamble of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 will be enough.
Earlier, Khasi-Jaintia districts along with other districts of the North East were included in the Regulation but on December 11, the notification of the President excluded districts and replaced them with states like Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur.
Speaking to reporters, senior BJP leader and MLA Sanbor Shullai said that the MDA government will meet the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister after Christmas along with the opposition Congress to push for implementing ILP and to extend all the non-schedule areas in the state under Sixth Schedule.
Shullai said in the recent meeting with the Union home minister, it was decided that the next meeting will be held after Christmas and the MDA coalition would seek an appointment to discuss the implementation of ILP.
He said that once the appointment is fixed, the MDA coalition through Chief Minister Conrad Sangma will also invite the opposition to join them to go to New Delhi for the meeting.
On the fears of the non-tribal population of the state to be subjected to harassment once the ILP is passed, Shullai said that genuine non-tribals are protected.
“We have also seen non-tribals and organisations coming forward to lend their support to the NGOs and they are also supporting the demand of the NGOs and the people of the state”, Shullai said.
Stating that ILP means henceforth all the floating population, especially the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh Pakistan and Afghanistan will be detected, Shullai said the need of the hour is that the tribals and the genuine non-tribals should work together.