By HH Mohrmen
The Earth has completed two full circles around the Sun since the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance Government was formed in Meghalaya in 2018, and it is only befitting that the public look at the achievements or rather the failures of this coalition government in the last two years. The government which was the outcome of a hung assembly verdict in 2018, has compelled the regional and some national parties in the state albeit with contrasting ideologies to come together and form a coalition a government.
The Government which was formed with one main agenda which was to get rid of the Congress from the State had a smooth sailing till the Them Iew Mawlong issue erupted. Shillong which has for so long been a peaceful city was disrupted by the flare-up. The MDA constituted a High level Committee to come up with a lasting solution to the Them Iew Mawlong imbroglio, but unfortunately its looks like the solution to this long pending issue is still a far cry.
The failure of this Government is very apparent in the way it deals with the coal mining ban in the State. The Honourable Supreme Court had already passed its judgement on the case but instead of trying to implement the court order in letter and spirit; the MDA government is trying to subvert it. Instead of going by the book, and earning the scarce but much needed resource for the State this Government is taking advantage of the situation for its own ulterior motive.
This column has time and again tried to bring to light the illegal transportation of coal from the mining sites, but the Government chose to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the truth for reasons we all know now. It was only on January 3, this year that a prominent vernacular daily from Shillong brought out a headline story which confirmed that the illegal transportation of coal from Meghalaya is happening with the collusion of the Government. The report stated that on December 30 last, few people came to the check gate at Dainadubi and asked the personnel of DMR and Transport to make way for these individuals and they took over the job of collecting money from the trucks carrying coal on the road from the Government official. The allegation was that the people who took over the job of collecting money from the trucks have a very close relationship with a certain minister.
This is happening everywhere in the State where coal is being transported. Coal mining is being taken over by the coal mafia and the mineral is illegally transported covertly or overtly with the support of the Government. In fact this Government has deliberately turned a blind eye to the illegal transportation and even export of coal to Bangladesh via Tamabil, thereby depriving the Government of the much needed resource.
This Government blames the five-year mining ban for depriving the state its share of royalty from this mineral, which is also the root cause of the financial crunch, but when the apex Court has already passed its judgement on the case, why is the Government still indulging in illegal transport of coal? It is true, the coal mining ban has affected revenue collection, but what revenue is this Government talking about when more than two thousand trucks per night illegally transport coal to Guwahati without paying any taxes? Who has benefitted from this entire illegal act? Why do the Police and the District Administrators in all the mining districts in the state keeping silent when all these illegal activities are carrying on right in front of their eyes?
The million dollar or should we say the billion rupees question is, who is making money from this illegal transport of coal, because for sure money does exchange hands in the process but it is not going to the public exchequer. If the Government treasury is not earning any revenue from this illegal act, then the question is where does the money go? The illegal activities have compelled the Chairman of the NGT Committee to tender his resignation from office and now the State is in a dilemma with regards to finding a permanent solution to the mining ban. This has also put the MDA government in a tight spot as it does know what to do next.
It is obvious that though the Chief Minister has many times claimed that his government is for scientific mining to protect and conserve the environment, that is not what we are seeing. As per the Court order the extracted coal should be auctioned and transported by Coal India Limited, but the CIL is still not in the picture as yet. Now the question is – isn’t the transportation of coal without the knowledge of CIL not a case of violating the Court order? Does this not amount to contempt of Court?
The police in the border districts have not only failed in their duty to stop illegal transportation of coal, but they have not been able to stop the illegal transportation of cows to Bangladesh too. Recently the BSF issued a press release which in some way is comical because over and above manning the border they now also have to act as shepherd to the cows seized from smugglers and which are left to graze in the green fields next to the border. If BSF is expected to act as cowherds this is too much to expect from our border security force and certainly shepherding cows is not in their job description.
At present the CAA issue is one is that causing confusion not only amongst the partners in the MDA government but even the NPP is in confusion. After the president of the NPP Assam state unit Dilip Kumar Borah questioned the about turn made by the Party National President, Conrad Sangma which was against the Resolution adopted by the National Executive of the Party at the meeting held in Delhi on November 30, 2019, now another leader of the party from Arunachal Pradesh resigned from the NPP. But the confusion is more obvious when the National General Secretary of the party Thomas A. Sangma issued a notice on the first day of the year instructing its members to refrain from commenting either for or against the Citizenship Act 1956 i.e. C (A) A 2019. That the party has to issue a directive to its members forbidding them from making any comment on the issue has a lot to say about the style of functioning of the party. The confusion is also on the message. Why would NPP party members not make a comment supporting the Act when the NPP vide its MP, Agatha Sangma had already voted for the Bill.
The NPP is in an utter state of confusion. It is trying to please everybody by prohibiting its members from making any comment either for or against the CAA. Like a pendulum in the grandfather’s clock which swings from left to right, the Party is trying to fool the public with regards its stand on the issue. It is therefore not without basis that the MDA is also called the Meghalaya Directionless Alliance. In fact the confusion vis-à-vis the CAA issue is not only with the coalition partners but within the party too. NPP is not only leading a purposeless alliance but people are now giving new description to the abbreviation NPP and calling it the Non- Performing Party.
Once while walking on the street I happened to see a Tata Nano car with a caption on its rear windshield which says, ‘When I grow up I want to be a Mercedes Benz.’ NPP is like this Tata Nano with regards to its dream of becoming a National Party; the dream is big but the means to achieve it is inadequate. The very structure of the Party is that a regional front or a State Party in Meghalaya, but the fallout of the CAA imbroglio also proves that the NPP is not even a regional party in the North East.