In August this year during the Assembly session, Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Commerce and Industries, Sniawbhalang Dhar while replying to a question from VPP MLA Adelbert Nongrum about the number of cement plants that are set up on their own land, informed that 11 out of 15 cement plants have set up factories on their own land. At the time, Dhar had also stated on the floor of the House that the Government would soon start the process of verification on the 15 out of 17 coke plants in the state. The VPP MLA had pointed out that most cement companies are operating in the name of tribal directors in what is a partnership concern. In other words the tribal director has lent his/her name to make it easy for the company to acquire land and to bypass the Land Transfer Act 1972 subsequently amended from time to time. Perhaps by now it is clear that any law is rendered ineffective because of weak implementation.
Land has always been a bone of contention in Meghalaya and a political issue that is flagged especially before elections but hardly anyone pays attention to this matter once the last vote is cast. It would be interesting for instance if the VPP which raised the question on land ownership of cement companies in Jaintia Hills were to follow up the matter by visiting all the cement companies and verifying the ownership details. It would be interesting to find out as to what percentage of the company’s capital investments come from the tribal director/s. Is/Are the tribal director/s the majority stakeholder/s? What does the paperwork actually say? Is it even possible to see all the paperwork? This is the prime duty of any political party desiring to safeguard the much-touted “tribal interest.” Merely making public statements without getting into the heart of the matter is mere political one-upmanship. Meghalaya has seen enough of this and the state is where it is today mainly because legislators think their duty begins and ends by raising questions in the State Assembly and gaining brownie points from that. That same is the case of the sundry pressure groups that have only now awakened to the Meghalaya State Investment, Promotion and Facilitation Bill passed in February 2024 with the objective of establishing the Investment Meghalaya Authority (IMA) to replace the current Single Window Agency.
This decision ostensibly was made to enhance the ease of doing business in the State by introducing a streamlined, unified system for handling investment applications. Why were relevant questions not raised at the time of passage of the Act? It is also interesting to note that the only state-run cement company – the Mawmluh Cherra Cements Company, now on the verge of closure was set up on land held on lease from a private landowner. Those who have now become advocates of, “land belongs to indigenous tribes and should not be alienated,” bandwagon should also show that they have equal concern for an emerging phenomena which is large scale privatisation of community land. Merely stating that the indigenous people are endangered when non-tribals acquire tribal land is a vacuous statement. A tribal holding kilometres of land which once was community land is more dangerous than a land transaction conducted upfront. This double standard no longer deceives.
