By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 11: The newly-elected central executive council (CEC) of Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has vowed to pursue the pending demands such as the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP), 44 per cent reservation of jobs for the Scheduled Tribes in central institutions including North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), early resolution of the interstate border dispute and the issue of drug menace, among others.
HYC’s newly-elected president, Roy Kupar Synrem on Saturday said the ILP’s implementation has been a key demand of the organisation.
“We were able to pressure the government to pass a resolution in the Assembly in 2019, but we understand that it is only a way forward. We want the state government to put pressure on the Centre so that it accepts the Assembly resolution (on ILP),” he said.
Synrem said if granting ILP at this time is difficult for the Centre, it should at least approve and implement the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
At the same time however, he said the HYC will prefer ILP to MRSSA. He added that if MRSSA is approved, the organisation will examine if the provisions in it are as per law. He recalled that the HYC has already demanded amendment to the MRSSA Bill.
Pointing out that the Ministry of Home Affairs has returned the MRSSA (Amendment) Bill, Synrem said, “We will follow that bill. In the next few days, we will be meeting the chief minister (Conrad K Sangma). Actually, we have sought an appointment with the chief minister to enquire about the status of the MRSSA (Amendment) Bill and the reply that the government will give to the queries raised by MHA.”
On the direction of the state government to some localities to implement MRSSA 2016 in the first phase, he said, “As soon as it was kept in the public domain, we openly stated that it is a toothless bill.”
“It won’t serve the purpose because we want to regulate the movement of people coming and going outside the state. The MRSSA 2016 will only keep a register to register the tenants of localities of Shillong. We have made our point very clear that we will not accept MRSSA 2016. We want the MRSSA (Amendment) Bill, 2020,” he said.
Stating that there are 6 to 8 anti-infiltration gates in the state which lack manpower, the HYC president suggested the state government to also depute police personnel at the gates and ensure that the people kept to man the gates keep an eye on the movement of people.
“Not only ILP but there are many pending issues. We are thinking about the institutions in the state. We have to take ownership over them. We have seen what is happening in NEHU,” Synrem said.
He said the CEC of HYC will take up the issue of recruitment in central institutions in the state. He pointed out that most teaching staff recruited in NEHU were from outside and claimed that more are coming. As non-teaching staff will also be recruited soon, he expressed apprehension about the possible recruitment of more outsiders.
Stating that the Ministry of Personnel and Training had directed through a notification that the central institutions in the state should comply with 44 per cent reservation, Synrem said, “We don’t know what is the status of it. So, the new CEC will take it up to make sure that 44 per cent jobs are reserved for the STs in the central institutions.”
On the interstate boundary issue with Assam, he said, “We will be following it up with the government. If we see anything that they are doing is wrong, we will raise it.”
On the issue of drugs, he said the HYC will work together with the Dorbar Shnongs, police and government departments to ensure that they are able stop the menace.
