By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 15: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) East Jaintia Hills on Monday erected an Inner Line Permit (ILP) check gate at Umkiang to prevent the entry of suspected illegal migrants into the state.
The check gate was erected at Umstain village along National Highway 6. Earlier, the KSU had erected similar ILP check gates at Pahammawlein in Ri-Bhoi and Athiabari in West Khasi Hills districts.
The Umkiang check gate has placards and banners which read “Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation & Employment and Condition of Services) Act, 1979 (Work Permit) has been implemented in Meghalaya since July 28, 2011”. Another banner read: “Infiltration Check Gate of the police is a dent for illegal collection”.
The KSU East Jaintia Hills has started checking the documents of people to ensure that no illegal immigrants can enter the state. It was reported that many people from Assam were pushed back as they did not possess any valid documents to prove their identity.
The authorities rushed police personnel to the site of KSU check gate at Umstain to ensure that there is no untoward incident as it might create a law and order problem.
A senior district official said the gate was set up without the authorisation of the administration. “We have set up a gate at Umkiang to check outsiders’ entry into the state,” a senior leader of the KSU in the district said.
It may be mentioned that the KSU along with other groups has been demanding that the police step up anti-infiltration check gates and the Centre implement Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.
The State Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to consider extending the implementation of the ILP in the state in 2019 and it is awaiting the Union government’s nod.
The KSU leader claimed that the influx of outsiders in the past few years has become so huge that the KSU has taken it upon itself to check.
Despite infiltration check gates at various entry points into the state, the KSU claimed it has detected over 500 migrant labourers without registration.
One of the ‘pro-ILP activists’ was arrested here on July 11 for checking the documents of migrant labourers in the state without authorisation.
The KSU claimed its members in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region have driven out over 500 migrant labourers in the past two weeks. (With PTI inputs)