SHILLONG: The already delayed final meeting of the High Level Committee (HLC) on the Harijan Colony issue is in for further delay with the state government awaiting former Urban Affairs Minister, Hamletson Dohling and his senior officials to come out of their quarantine period to fix the date for the proposed meeting.
“The nodal department is Urban Affairs and unfortunately the former Urban Affairs Minister tested positive for COVID-19 and his whole team comprising of his senior officers are in quarantine,” said Deputy Chief Minister and Chairperson of the HLC, Prestone Tynsong.
In addition to it, the HLC Chairperson also said that the Advocate General is also in Delhi.
“Very soon we are going to sit down for the final HLC meeting. Once they are out of quarantine we will be able to fix a date for the same,” he added.
Informing that one more sitting of the HLC is required before they can submit their recommendations to the state government, Tynsong said, “Let them complete the quarantine period and then we will try our best to come to a conclusion”.
The sub-committee of the HLC, headed by then Urban Affairs Minister, Hamletson Dohling, constituted to iron out the issues of the Hima Mylliem in relation to Harijan Colony has already submitted its recommendations to the HLC. It may be recalled that the High Level Committee on Harijan Colony was constituted by the state government in 2018 to look into the demand of moving the colony to another location as the demand had gained momentum after an altercation on June 2018 in the colony spiralled into a violent unrest which paralysed life in the area for days.
Even today, the residents live in the area under 24-hour police vigil.