SHILLONG, Aug 16: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said the state government is pursuing multiple mechanisms to address the problem of illegal immigration.
He told reporters the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is one of the mechanisms that the government is pursuing with the Centre.
Asked about the delay in the Centre’s approval of ILP for Meghalaya, Sangma said, “I cannot reply on behalf of the Union home minister or the government of India since the matter is under their examination. We have continuously put pressure on the government to find a way so that we are able to address this issue, whether MRSA, ILP or other mechanism, since we are concerned about the overall issue of illegal dumping.”
He said tourism must not be linked to ILP stating that these are two different subjects. He felt ILP will have some effect on tourism.
“I would like to stress that tourism is a main area for revenue as well as employment generation. Hence, we will continue to push tourism in the direction it is moving,” he said.
He said there are multiple mechanisms to stop illegal immigration.
“ILP is one of those policies which have been applicable in other parts of the country. Based on it, we had passed a resolution. Apart from the ILP resolution, we have also passed the MRSSA Act, which was sent by the then governor to MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs),” Sangma said.
He further said the state government is pursuing multiple options and policies to be able to achieve the ultimate goal which is to have some kind of control over the problem of illegal immigration.
‘UCC a mere concept now’
Talking about the Centre’s move to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Sangma said UCC holds limited value at this point as it is still a concept.
Reacting to the demand that the Assembly should adopt a unanimous resolution to oppose UCC, he said the Assembly cannot adopt a resolution on a concept not knowing the idea and details of this proposal.
“The proposal has to be on a particular bill and particular format and given to us since UCC is a broad concept,” he said.
Observing that the concept is not in line with the diversity of the country, he said after going into the details of the bill, the state government will adopt a resolution accordingly.