SHILLONG, Dec 30: KHNAM legislator Adelbert Nongrum has threatened to boycott the golden jubilee celebrations of Meghalaya in 2022 if the burning issues of the state remained unresolved before the celebration year.
“It is embarrassing to see that important issues of the state such as the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute has not been resolved till now even as just a year remains for the state to celebrate its 50th anniversary,” Nongrum told The Shillong Times here on Wednesday.
“This is happening because of the lack of responsibility and farsightedness of our so-called leaders and all the governments in the past and the present,” he said, while asking the incumbent MDA government to take responsibility and have the political will to resolve the issues.
“If the government fails to address the issues, I will be the first representative to boycott the celebrations for 50 years of Meghalaya and I will also appeal to the people not to be a part of the celebration as it would bring no rejoice to the them and the state.” Nongrum added.
The KHNAM legislator rued the fact that even after 48 years of statehood, Meghalaya was yet to have its own university and medical college.
“Besides, the road condition in the state continues to be at its worst condition,” he said.
Asserting that the state reservation policy must be revised to produce efficient officers for handling the administrative services, he said it was time to have a separate Meghalaya cadre to pave way for the brilliant minds of the state to serve the state. He also underlined the need for a strong and meaningful mechanism to protect the indigenous tribes of the state, saying “it would be useless to take part in the meaningless celebration if the concerns of the people are not addressed before the celebration.”