“The entire scheme to enable coal mining signifies how deeply entrenched the entire nexus is right from the Cabinet members to people in administration…”
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 26: The opposition is extremely annoyed with the state government’s persistent denials regarding the illegal coal mining and transportation issues, and they now believe that the Judiciary is the only way to put an end to this madness.
The MDA Government, led by the NPP, is still trying to distance itself from the problem despite criticism for not doing enough to stop illicit coal transportation and mining in the state.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has been silent on the 18th interim report on coal mining activities in the Jaintia Hills submitted by retired judge BP Katakey to the High Court of Meghalaya. Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, on the other hand, defended the government and denied any illegalities.
TMC vice president George B Lyngdoh stated on Sunday, “The government’s denial is not surprising at all because we have seen that the government has tried to cover up and even invoke the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act or MMDR on several occasions to justify the coal that was confiscated and provide a legal route for confiscated coal to be transported from the state.”
“We have seen throughout this whole issue that a small group is benefiting at the expense of those people who have been deprived of their right to a decent life and means of subsistence,” he declared while adding that the judiciary, which will defend both the state’s constitutional rights and the people’s resources, is the only hope.
The entire scheme to enable coal mining, Lyngdoh claims, “signifies how deeply entrenched the entire nexus is right from the Cabinet members to people in administration. This has been justified through the Justice Katakey’s report justifying the involvement of the administration and how the administration has turned a blind eye to the select group of business men and politicians. Even the brother of a Cabinet minister was named in connection with coal illegalities.”
Lyngdoh claimed that Meghalaya had turned into a crony capitalist state where a few relatives and businessmen connected to the upper classes continue to loot the resources at the expense of small miners, who are denied access to government officials, and where a small number of politicians and those involved in the entire racket have eaten the entire cake.
“The government is bound to deny because their hands are so deep in it. It is not shocking that the Deputy Chief Minister, or any other minister for that matter, previously denied even when their hands were clearly tied. They even denied on the Assembly floor, despite the fact that they were openly using parts of the MMDR to permit the transportation of coal,” Lyngdoh stated.
“We only expect the Judiciary to give us a sense of justice…not only to protect the state’s resources but also to protect the interest of those miners whose livelihood was suddenly taken away from them and for those impoverished families who relied on the coal mining industry as a whole,” he continued.
“Some of the families still find themselves drowning in debt, preventing their children from attending college or school or forcing them to drop out. Numerous people have lost their jobs over night, and this illegal activity has hurt the entire state,” he added.