SHILLONG, March 24: The Meghalaya government has sent an official reminder to Union Home Minister Amit Shah about his proposed visit to the state to discuss the implementation of Inner-Line Permit (ILP) in the state.
Shah had promised to visit Shillong in March to discuss the ILP issue with the stakeholders but there has been no word from the Ministry of Home Affairs on his proposed trip.
Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday confirmed that Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma sent a reminder to Shah about his proposed visit to the state.
“There is no response from the ministry. Not only the NGOs, even we are getting restless because we would like him (Shah) to come to Shillong as promised,” he said.
The pressure groups in Meghalaya have been awaiting communication from the state and the Central government about Shah’s visit.
“We are yet to communicate anything to the NGOs because we are yet to get any communication from the ministry,” Tynsong said, adding that efforts were on to get a clear-cut reply from the MHA on the matter.
Shah has not clarified about the Centre’s plan on implementing ILP in the state but the state leadership has been shuttling between Shillong and New Delhi over holding talks on the burning issue.
The last of the discussions was held in February when the CM led a team to New Delhi. Shah had visited Shillong for a day on January 23 but did not discuss the issue with the pressure groups and civil society organisations (CSOs). He had subsequently asked the leaders of the CSOs to visit New Delhi and discuss the issue with him.
Shah later shifted the venue of his proposed meeting from New Delhi to Shillong much to the annoyance of the pressure groups who have been kept waiting.
Health Minister AL Hek also claimed that the BJP was not aware of the Union Home Minister’s visit to the state.
He informed that the party has not approached Shah since he is busy campaigning for the Assembly elections in Assam and West Bengal.
