SHILLONG, Nov 22: Paving the way for shifting its employees from Harijan Colony to the Shillong Municipal Board quarters at Bishop Cotton Road, the state government has directed the board to immediately shift its office to a designated site by November-end.
“We have also instructed the SMB to repair the quarters so that its employees staying in that place (Harijan Colony) can be accommodated,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said Monday.
The government has decided to shift the settlers from Harijan Colony, also called Punjabi Lane, in phases to the building that housed the office of the SMB that will be turned into living quarters.
Tynsong said the government has instructed the Urban Affairs department to work out a beautification project for the area to be vacated by the settlers.
Stating that about 40 families employed with different departments have already moved out of the colony, he said the government had earlier written to these departments to provide quarters for their employees staying in the colony.
The government has consistently maintained that all due processes would be followed in relocating the residents of the colony. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma had also said the government is willing to hold talks with the stakeholders on the matter.
The state government had last month taken possession of the Harijan Colony that had been at the heart of controversy since a communal flare-up in May 2018. The Harijan Panchayat Committee representing the mostly Sikh residents said they will not budge from the land that was gifted them by the Syiem of Mylliem 200 years ago.