SHILLONG/TURA, March 23: The Centre has apprised the Upper House of the solution to the decades-old boundary row between Meghalaya and Assam while the Meghalaya Government has once again been asked to revisit the border decision.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Wednesday informed the Rayja Sabha that Meghalaya and Assam have agreed for permanent settlement in six of the 12 areas of difference by holding discussions at various levels.
The union minister said the approach of the central government has consistently been that inter-state boundary issues can be resolved only with the cooperation of the state governments concerned and that the central government acts as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the boundary issue in the spirit of mutual cooperation and understanding.
However, the Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE) has not only lent support to the border-dwellers who want to stay with Meghalaya but has also appealed to the state government to reconsider its decision and not keep the stakeholders in the dark about the negotiations.
“It has come to our knowledge that several villages belonging to Meghalaya are being handed over to Assam by the Meghalaya without providing any information to the stakeholders in the process of the ongoing border dispute negotiations between the two states. Border villages like Malchapara, Salbari under Nonglang Sardership in West Khasi Hills district, which ethnically and historically belong to Meghalaya, will go to Assam as part of the border solution. We appreciate the efforts of the both state authorities but we can’t accept any decision taken behind the curtain,” ADE president, Dalseng Bira Ch Momin, said.
He also asked the state government to keep the stakeholders privy to the ongoing border negotiations whilst arguing that it is the commonfolk who will be affected by the decisions taken on the border disputes.
Asking the state government to make public the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two states, the ADE said, “These people have been part and parcel of Meghalaya for many generations. They hold voter identity cards, draw electricity for MeECL and do their schooling under MBoSE. So how can all this be undone simply by a stroke of a pen. We believe a solution will not come based on what the two governments agree on but on the mutual consent of the border residents of the two states.” (With agency inputs)