TURA: Ten years have passed since the international border with Bangladesh was fenced in the South Garo Hills region but dozens of beneficiaries who parted with their land are yet to be paid compensation.
BJP leader and former Baghmara legislator Satto R Marak have written to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma urging upon him to look into the issue of early disposal of compensation for the beneficiaries.
“The people and individuals of South Garo Hills gave their precious land that had been used for generations to cultivate agriculture and horticulture crops to ensure the border fencing took place. In spite of the fencing being completed way back in 2008 no compensation has been received by them, even till date. Sadly, some of the beneficiaries have already died without getting their rightful dues,” pointed out Satto Marak in his appeal to the chief minister.
According to the BJP leader, a sizeable number of the people who depended solely on their land for sustenance have become landless after handing it over for the border fencing.
“They had given it on the hope that they would get the required compensation on time with which they could start some income generating activity. These beneficiaries are facing a very difficult time due to the long delay,” a worried Marak stated.
Compensation for land given for the border fencing has been a contentious issue for many years. While those genuine beneficiaries have been knocking on the doors of the government demanding their dues for the last many years, there are also allegations of some officials and politicians benefitting from this exercise by having purchased land at dirt cheap price from villagers through which the proposed fencing was to come up, years earlier, and thereby find their or their family names in the beneficiaries list.
