SHILLONG, April 6: A precedent set by the state government three years ago has come to haunt it now.
Hima Mawphlang, a traditional institution, has allegedly been holding the government at ransom by not allowing the construction of the stage-II pumping station of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase-III. Reason: non-regularisation of service of 112 contractual staff from the area.
The state government had during land acquisition three years ago signed an agreement for giving preference to the locals of the area for jobs in the project.
On Tuesday, Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar met a delegation of the Hima Mawphlang in a bid to sort out the issue.
“The department is yet to regularise 112 people. Based on the request of the Hima, we have decided to examine the matter and regularise as many as we can,” Tongkhar said after the meeting.
He said many who joined the project before 1997 were regularised but many others have been left out.
The Minister declined to call the three-year-old agreement “wrong precedent” and said it was needed at that time to get the large swathe of land from the Hima.
“I would rather say the state government needs more friends. Mawphlang contributed the land to the project and the department provided jobs besides piped water,” Tongkhar said.
He admitted that the objection from the Hima Mawphlang has affected to project to a great extent. “I was told the people prevented the contractors from taking up any work,” he said.
He hoped that after Tuesday’s discussion the Hima Mawphlang will give the go-ahead for constructing the pumping station and completing the project within the stipulated time.
