KHLIEHRIAT, June 6: Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, Sniawbhalang Dhar who is the Chairman, Regional Committee on interstate border for East Jaintia Hills on Friday chaired a review meeting regarding the Assam-Meghalaya Boundary MOU with respect to the boundary at Ratacherra village particularly on the inclusion of Baikam village to Meghalaya.
Present during the review meeting were Deputy Commissioner, East Jaintia Hills District, Shivansh Awasthi, Additional Deputy Commissioner, East Jaintia Hills District, J.U Kharpuri, Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills District, Giri Prasad, Sub-Divisional Officer (Sardar), East Jaintia Hills District, M. Kumar, Additional Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills District S. Paslein, Block Development Officer, Wapung C&RD Block, East Jaintia Hills District, M. Kyndait, traditional heads of Baikam,Ratachera, Malidor villages and residents of Baikam Village.
Briefing the media after the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister stated that the meeting was positive and further informed that Baikam village has 37 households out of which 30 households have expressed the desire to be a part of Meghalaya.
He also said that today’s meeting served as a significant platform to both the Regional Committee and the residents of the village to address the issue and that a final meeting between the Deputy Commissioner, East Jaintia Hills District and his counterpart from Assam will be held soon to further discuss on the issue before a final call is made.
Post the meeting between the Deputy Commissioner, East Jaintia Hills and his counterpart from Assam side, namely, Cachar District, the report will be submitted by the District Administration to the state government for further action at its end.
While speaking on the development schemes availed by residents of the Baikam village, the Deputy Chief Minister said that currently the people are receiving benefits from both Meghalaya and Assam and thus a final decision needs to be taken so that the people will get optimum access to government schemes.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner, East Jaintia Hills District, ShivanshAwasthi informed that multiple coordination meetings were held in the past, including one with the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar to address the pending issue of Baikam with the aim to resolve the issue.