SHILLONG, June 23: Deputy Chief Minister and chairperson of the Ri-Bhoi Regional Committee on the boundary dispute, Prestone Tynsong said that a joint meeting with the corresponding Assam panel would be held in July.
“We will most likely have the meeting with our counterpart next month,” he said after a meeting of the regional committee at the state secretariat on Friday.
“We decided to go to the disputed spots with Assam committee members after the joint meeting and take a final call on the issue,” he said.
On the demand of re-transferring the Block I and Block II areas to Meghalaya, Tynsong said discussions would be held with the Assam committee on the other disputed sectors too. These are Borduar, Desh Doomreah, and Nongwah-Mawtamur.
“We have sought the retransfer of Block I and II areas where our people dominate on the basis of a 1951 notification,” he said, pointing out that the terms of reference during the first phase of boundary dispute resolution would apply to the second phase.
The willingness of the border villagers to be in Meghalaya played a crucial role in resolving the dispute in six sectors in the first phase, Tynsong said.
On the resentment from various quarters during the first phase of resolving the dispute, he said there will always be an unhappy section. “Some people appreciated (the first phase boundary deal) and some did not. Public sentiment will always be there,” he added.
The deputy CM claimed the NPP-led government was the only one in 50 years to take a firm decision to resolve the issue once and for all. “We are resolving the dispute in the remaining six sectors for the next generations in our state,” he said.
In another development, the members of the NPP-led Executive Committee in the KHADC on Friday decided to visit the border villages under Raid Nongtung in Block II to understand the problems faced by the locals.
“We will visit the border villages immediately after the ongoing summer session of the Council,” the KHADC’s chief executive member, Pyniaid Sing Syiem said.
The objective of the visit is to understand the problems faced by the villagers, farmers or traders, along the border with Assam.
Syiem recalled assuring that the new Executive Committee would take all possible steps to ensure the safety and security of the people residing along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
He said that they have seen reports on how the district administration of Karbi Anglong (Assam) is trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the border villages. “We are also aware that there is a sense of insecurity and fear psychosis among the villagers due to the highhandedness of the Assam authorities,” he added.
Syiem, however, said the border villagers should rest assured that the Executive Committee would do anything to instil confidence among them.
He further said the state government nominated him and deputy chief executive member, PN Syiem in the Ri-Bhoi Regional Committee for the second phase of the boundary talks.
He said the committee would be able to comment on the retransfer of areas under Block II only after understanding the government’s stand on the issue. But he said the government would work closely with various traditional bodies for resolving the long-pending boundary dispute.
“We have a big role in the regional committee since the land falls under the jurisdiction of the KHADC,” Syiem said.
