SHILLONG, Jan 20: Urban Affairs Minister, Sniawbhalang Dhar has asserted that the state government is working to ensure smooth relocation of the Harijan Colony residents and would not act under pressure from any quarter.
“We would like to relocate the residents in a proper away. At the moment, the department is yet to receive the full list of families residing at Sweepers (Harijan) Colony. We only have a list of the government employees residing there,” Sniawbhalang Dhar said.
Maintaining that some of the government employees have already been shifted from Them Iew Mawlong, Dhar reiterated that the government would not act in haste just because there is pressure from some quarters. “We will take a decision that would be acceptable to all. It is only this government which has made efforts to resolve this issue unlike the governments in the past,” the minister said, while urging all to be patient and let the government do its job.
“I want to assure that any step taken by the government would be acceptable to everyone,” the minister asserted.
Notably, there are a total of 184 employees residing in the area which includes 128 employees of the SMB and 56 others working in other government departments, according to the inventory report submitted by the Shillong Municipal Board.