By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 3: The Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) on Wednesday accused the state government of using its proposal to pay the salaries of employees in the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) as a ploy to weaken land rights, drawing parallels with concessions allegedly granted to cement companies in East Jaintia Hills.
HITO further alleged that “high-level” officials in the government have been profiting through undue favours extended to these cement factories.
The allegations followed the release of documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2025, from the office of the Director of Mineral Resources (DMR). The RTI replies detail how cement companies in East Jaintia Hills acquired land and extracted natural resources such as limestone.
Addressing the media, HITO president Donbok Dkhar claimed the government appeared intent on bypassing the authority of the Autonomous District Councils in order to exercise unchecked powers.
HITO secretary Wanbun N Dkhar said it was shocking that the government approved as much as 4,28,85,496.831 metric tons of limestone under the “incidental” category for seven cement companies, despite limestone being classified as a major mineral.
He identified the companies as Meghalaya Cement Ltd (Topcem), Green Valley Industries, Goldstone, Star Cement, Hill Cement, Amrit Cement, and Jaintia Cement.
Wanbun pointed out that none of these companies hold mining leases. Based on the royalty rate of Rs 80 per metric ton, the amount should have been Rs 343.30 crore. He further alleged that the companies had also evaded payment of other statutory charges, including the MMMRF (Rs 70 per metric ton) and the DMF (Rs 20 per metric ton).
According to his calculations, the total loss to the government due to non-payment of royalties and levies stands at Rs 403.12 crore, based on a rate of Rs 94 per metric ton.