SHILLONG, Dec 31: Meghalaya is ready to welcome the new year but several issues continue to remain unresolved.
The demand for Inner Line Permit or ILP and other mechanisms to check the influx of illegal migrants is one.
In December 2019, the Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution to urge the Centre to implement ILP in the state. However, the BJP-led central government is maintaining a stony silence on the issue.
The work of a railway project in the Khasi Hills has remained stalled for years due to opposition from some pressure groups. They insist that a mechanism to check the influx of the illegal migrants should be put in place before the introduction of railway.
The demand for the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution has also remained unfulfilled despite the state Assembly passing a resolution. Sit-ins were also held in the national capital recently to draw the Centre’s attention to the demand. The Centre said the demand is under its consideration.
The peace talks among Centre, state government and proscribed HNLC are yet to reach their logical end. Although a few rounds of talks have been held, the HNLC issued a death threat to NPP’s Sohra MLA Gavin Miguel Mylliem. The government’s reaction remains to be seen.
The HNLC is asking for amnesty while the state government has made it clear that it will hold the subsequent talks only with the outfit’s top leaders.
Meanwhile, the issue pertaining to the relocation of the settlers of Harijan Colony is yet to be resolved, five years after violent clashes had broken out in the city.
The government and the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) are still in discussions to find an amicable solution to the problem. The government is expected to hold a final meeting with the HPC in January to finalise the relocation process.
The government proposed to the HPC to add another 1.4 acres of land adjacent to the office of Shillong Municipal Board on the Bivar Road to the existing 2.14 acres of land for relocation. The pressure groups have opposed it.
Then, the state’s longstanding boundary dispute with Assam in the remaining six areas of differences has not been resolved yet.
After reaching a consensus in the first round of talks, both governments reconstituted some regional committees to resolve the dispute in these areas. However, the timeline for these committees to submit their reports has been extended. Nothing is clear as to when the next round of chief minister-level talks will be held.
Even as efforts are underway to find a solution to the problem, tensions erupted from time to time in the border areas.
Curbing the drug menace has remained a challenge for the government. While it launched the Drug Reduction, Elimination & Action Mission (DREAM) to eliminate drugs, instances of people taking drugs have come to the fore. A video went viral on Thursday showing a group of individuals injecting drugs.
The government occasionally carries out surveys but the problem of traffic congestion in Shillong remains. Projects such as the Shillong Skywalk, flyovers, and expansion of roads are seen only in papers.
While the roads in Shillong have more or less remained the same, the number of vehicles has increased exponentially.
The unemployment issue continues to give nightmares to the government. Government jobs are hard to come by. Private investments, which could have partially solved the problem, is negligible in the state.
