Pala blames MDA’s ‘corrupt ways’ for exodus of labourers

SHILLONG, July 23: The Congress on Tuesday held the NPP-led ruling MDA and its “corrupt ways” responsible for the ongoing exodus of migrant labourers that has impacted infrastructure projects in the state.
“When the government is corrupt, people will rise and that is why, everybody looks for the bones. Meghalaya is left with bones and not flesh,” state Congress chief, Vincent H Pala said.
Sharing his views on the exodus of the labourers amidst the checking of their documents by the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), he said there are always law-and-order issues because the state government is not serious.
“If the government is corrupt, there will be more law-and-order issues because everybody will be concerned about their own pocket and not the people of the state. It is a big concern,” Pala said.
Slamming the state government for its alleged inability to handle the situation effectively, he said, “They (government) are busy handling their own problems instead of focusing on the interests of the public.”
The execution of some major infrastructure projects in the state, sanctioned by the central government, has been greatly affected by the ongoing checking of documents of migrant labourers by some pressure groups and the subsequent exodus of over 2,500 labourers.
According to some contractors implementing the projects, nearly 90% of the labourers have left the state in the wake of the vigilantism and resultant assault in some cases.
The pressure groups said they are checking the documents of the labourers as the government has failed to implement Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act and Inner Line Permit.
The contractors said the labourers have been always the soft targets in Meghalaya. They said the situation has come to such a pass that the labourers are not willing to come back and work in Meghalaya.
The KSU drove out the labourers as they were allegedly found not possessing any documents to prove their nationality.