Clear air on trade licences to non-tribals, KHNAM asks council

GUWAHATI: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) has expressed disappointment over the issuance of trade licences to non-tribals by KHADC without properly implementing the United Khasi Jaintia Autonomous District (Trading by Non-Tribals) Rules, 2019.
In a press statement, F Marpna, the general  secretary of the KHNAM state youth wing, referred to a RTI revealing that as many as 344 trading licences have been issued to non-tribals by KHADC between April 1, 2019 and July 31, 2019, which includes fresh licences.
“No objection certificate (NOC) from the dorbar of a locality is not the only criteria for issuance of trading licence,” Marpna pointed out. 
“According to Section 4 (4) of the Trading Regulation Rules, 2019, there are four conditions that need to be looked into before issuance of trading licence. Firstly, the issuance of trading licence should promote the socio-economic interests of the tribals of the state and the KHADC now needs to clarify as to how such a move would promote the socio-economic interests of tribals in the state,” he said.  “Secondly, before issuance of trading licence, the KHADC has to make sure if there are any tribal residents who are already doing the business or are capable of doing the business. So we need to know that before issuance of the trade licences, how did the KHADC find out that there are no tribals already doing the same business or capable of doing such business?” he asked.
The KHNAM youth wing general secretary also questioned whether the risk of alienation of tribal land was looked into by KHADC.
“There are areas within the Autonomous District Council that have lost their tribal identity and it is very much visible to all, and we don’t think that the KHADC has taken this section of the rules in letter and spirit while issuing the trade licences,” he said. 
“Then again, it is surprising to see that the council is not aware that the major contribution to influx in the state has been trade and business. Before issuance of a trade licence, the council should ensured that the move does not promote influx,” Marpna said.
“According to Section 3 of the trading regulation,1954, the executive committee should have limited the number of trade licences to be issued. But till now the council has not done that fearing economic loss. We would like to remind the KHADC that the basic objective of the Sixth Schedule is to protect our identity and the purpose of the Trading by Non-tribal Regulation, 1954 is to protect our interests and not to generate revenue,” he said.
“Therefore, we would ask the KHADC to take accountability for it,” he added.