SHILLONG, May 30: The state government on Thursday said it is awaiting clarification from the Shillong Municipal Board, Meghalaya Urban Development Authority, and the Directorate of Urban Affairs regarding the mismatch in the number of Harijan Colony residents.
Citing data received from the SMB through RTI, the Hynniewtrep Youth Council recently said 148 of the 342 families in Harijan Colony were not of government employees. The organisation opposed the allotment of any piece of land or house to these 148 families as part of the relocation programme.
The government has been claiming it is working on the relocation of 342 families whose members are employees of the SMB or the Urban Affairs Department.
“I have directed the SMB and the Urban Affairs Department to clarify, especially to the group that used the RTI,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said.
He attributed the possible numerical goof-up to the “three layers of authority” – SMB, MUDA, and the Directorate of Urban Affairs – that are verifying their records to find out the exact number of families.
He said the SMB and MUDA seem to have different numbers of the Harijan Colony residents employed by various government departments.
The state government is scheduled to meet the representatives of the Harijan Panchayat Committee on June 7 to take the relocation issue forward.
Peace talks with HNLC
The state government is yet to receive any communication from the outlawed HNLC for resuming the tripartite peace talks it walked out of a few months ago.
“Our doors are still open and we, including the interlocutor, are waiting. On behalf of the government, I would like to request the HNLC leadership to come forward for discussions,” Tynsong said.
He said the central government is also keen on the HNLC returning to the negotiation table.
The HNLC withdrew from the talks in January as the government did not meet the outfit’s demand for general amnesty to its cadres.
In a letter to Centre’s interlocutor AK Mishra, the outfit’s self-styled chairman and commander-in-chief Bobby Marwein said: “We deeply regret to inform you that we are reluctantly withdrawing ourselves from the peace talks with your government. This decision has been made due to the unfortunate circumstance that our general demands have not been met.”
