SHILLONG, April 8: The state government has invited the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) for talks on April 13.
HPC secretary, Gurjit Singh on Friday confirmed to The Shillong Times that he has received an invitation from the government.
He, however, denied the claims of Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong that the Committee has filed a petition in the High Court of Meghalaya expressing its interest in sitting for talks with the government and pleading that the settlers of Harijan Colony be provided a place for relocation.
Singh made it clear the matter was only discussed in the Court.
Tynsong had recently said that settlers of Harijan Colony may be invited next week for a discussion on the relocation issue. He had also claimed that the government recently filed an appeal against the previous order of the High Court while the HPC filed a counter-appeal against the government’s plea.
Recalling that Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma had spoken about inviting them for talks and they had welcomed the move of the CM, Singh said that the government seems to have only four buildings consisting of 32 quarters for resettlement of employees of the Shillong Municipal Board whereas there were around 300 families at Them Iew Mawlong.
“We are not against government but we want the area to be developed while we continue to settle there,” Singh added.
