Guv sore over KSU threat on migrants

SHILLONG: Governor Tathagata Roy has taken umbrage over a reported threat held out by KSU to ‘resort to its own ways’ to deal with the migrant workers in the state, in case the administration fails to tackle the issue satisfactorily.
He spoke to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to convey his disapproval of such aggressive stance of the students’ body.
In a Twitter message on Thursday, Roy said such a brazen threat was ‘completely unacceptable’.
His tweeted message said “no one shall take the law in one’s own hand”.
The message read: “Noticed a statement by an NGO that ‘if the (Meghalaya) State Govt is lenient (about the presence of people from outside the state)…it will resort to its own ways of handling such matters’.
“Completely unacceptable. Spoke to CM today,” the message read.
It may be recalled, the South Khasi Hills unit of KSU had issued the statement after it apprehended 69 migrant workers at Sohra Rim (near Cherrapujee) on Wednesday, while they were returning to Assam.
These migrants were engaged by a private firm in road construction works and were stranded due to the national lockdown.
Official sources said that the administration was always alert about the migrants and tried to play down both KSU threat and the Governor’s reaction.
Governor Roy, who has been active on social media and has kicked up row over his controversial comments, is likely to lay down office within the next few weeks on completion of his five-year term.
Meanwhile, the Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) on Friday cautioned against illegal migrants settling down in the state as a large number of people from the state return from across the country, and asked the government to keep a close watch.
In a statement issued here, the JSU said it was crucial for the state government to start monitoring and tracking the number of non-Meghalaya citizens who have left the state due to COVID-19 pandemic.
With over 8000 of the state’s citizens returning to the state, the union rued that there has not been any official report with regard to the number of migrant workers leaving the state.
The union stated that the government should take the initiative in rooting out illegal migrants and reduce the influx of migrants to the state taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis.
The union suggested that with time the state government can impose certain restrictions on the migrant workers to come to the state.
It said that most migrant workers in the state have been a serious problem in complying with the guidelines of social distancing given their thick density in several areas.
The union has urged the residents of the state to start afresh by being self-employed.