SHILLONG, Dec 20: Political parties and pressures groups have decided to wait and watch as the state government gets ready to inaugurate the first of the much-awaited entry and exit gates at Umling in Ri Bhoi district on Monday.
“Everyone has been demanding (the gate). Let the process begin. We will wait and see as no mechanism is foolproof but something is better than nothing,” UDP General Secretary Jemino Mawthoh told The Shillong Times.
“Experimentation can help evolve a better mechanism in the future. We will take the plus points and if there are minus points and inadequacies we can improve upon them,” he added.
Pointing out that 18 entry-exit points had been identified earlier, Mawthoh said, “One place may be different from another and we also have to look at the ground reality. This is at least a good start and we can give our observation after a few weeks.”
Mawthoh said it was too early to infer that the entry-exit gates would usher in the railways in Meghalaya. “Things should be done one step at a time,” he added.
The KSU took a similar stand. “Let the government inaugurate the Umling point and we will see how it is operated. We have asked the government to fast-track (the setting up of) all the identified entry-exit points as part of the MRSSA,” KSU president Lambokstar Marngnar said.
Underlining the shortcomings of the MRSSA (Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security Act) of 2016, Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organizations secretary Roykupar Synrem said: “We are happy that the entry-exit gate is being put in place. We will need such gates at all entry points of the state with the implementation of the MRSSA and the Inner Line Permit system.”
He said the government should now put the laws in place for checking and registering people entering and exiting the gates. It would be a meaningless exercise otherwise, he felt.