A few more National Parks are coming up in the north-eastern region, according to statements made by the Union Minister for Environment, Mr Digvijay Singh, who was recently on a visit to some of the States of the region. This is as it should be since the region abounds in abodes of rare specimens of Wildlife which need protection from extinction and therefore, call for suitable measures for their preservation in as many of their natural habitats as possible. In Kaziranga alone, as many as 91 Rhinos are reported to have been killed in recent years, and such vandalism has to stop. The existing arrangements for keeping watch over poachers and others pouncing on the sanctuary dwellers obviously need to be adequately augmented.

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Now that there would be a wide network of such Sanctuaries, big and small, there appears to be a good case for putting all of them under a common regional arrangement which would ensure a better management of these sanctuaries. Since, however, these at present are under control of different State governments, a common cadre of personnel drawn from the concerned States could perhaps be thought of if only such a coordination is arranged for under an integrated autonomous agency. The North Eastern Council could well be interested in taking the needed initiative for such a desideration.

N-E Congress(I) Committee

The one-day conference of the North-East Regional Congress(I) Coordination Committee held here on March 7 was an uneventful affair. Both in terms of glamour and material contents the conference has been quite unlike the party’s previous meets held in the region.

Notwithstanding the fact that the AICC (I) General Secretary, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, had attended the meet, it failed to create much impression on the minds of the people of Mizoram who are going to the polls within some six weeks.

Its political and economic resolutions were somewhat on the predictable lines with no new thrust nor any appeal to the partymen to take-up any pressing problems with a sense of urgency.

The only significant development has been the election of Mr Hiteshwar Saikia as the new Chairman of the Committee in place of Captain W.A. Sangma who held the post for three years since its inception. Observers here say that Mr Saikia’s election was designed to match the massive challenge the party faces in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Mr Saikia has already created an image of a go-getter by handling the complex situation in Assam in an adroit manner. On the other hand, the aging Meghalaya Chief Minister, has been relieved of the responsibility reportedly on his own request. He is said to be finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the task before the chairman.

The political resolution has made frontal attack on the original parties for their alleged connivance with the secessionist forces. The resolutions or even the deliberation lacked the punch witnessed in the earlier conferences. Perhaps, the absence of Mr C.M. Stephen, the erudite party General Secretary, was sorely missed.

It is said that one principal reason for the near wash-out of the Conference was its timing; many party leaders and elected representatives were in Delhi for the party meet held around that time. Besides, the Meghalaya leaders were busy with electioneering for the District Council.

The Dutta Commission of inquiry has squarely blamed the Khasi Hills District Council for the mess over the primary education in the District.

In his 9-page report Mr S. K. Dutta, the former Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, has pronounced the District Council guilty of “misusing and misapplying money received from the Government.”

In recommended that the State Govt should take over primary education to tide over the “present crisis” and reentrust the functions “after things are set in order.”

Justice Dutta has pointed out that the teacher’s salary was not being disbursed regularly, although the Govt had sanctioned the grants for the purpose.

He has found the District Council guilty of not supplying school kits like chalks, pencils, blackboards and other articles, although it had “shown that it had incurred contingency expenditure from its own resources.”

Moreover, the Commission found that most of the schools were not inspected for a long time by the District Council, although there are Inspectors on the pay-roll. It is inferred that the Inspectors are being utilized for purposes other than inspection of schools.

There will be a straight fight between the Congress-I and the APHLC for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Meghalaya. The Congress-I candidate is its Working President, Mr J E Tariang, and the opposition nominee is Mr E B Lyngdoh.

The Congress-I led coalition has 37 members and the opposition has 22. The election takes place on March.

Meanwhile, Mr J B Tariang has said that Mr D D Pugh, the former Chief Minister, had applied to Captain W A Sangma for party ticket. But since he had approached, a bit too late his case was not considered. Asked if Mr Pugh has joined the party or not, Mr Tariang said he was not sure. “He might have applied to the Chief Minister,” he said.

The verdict in the two district of Khasi Hills has gone overwhelmingly in favour of the State based parties.

The results of the District Council election which were announced here on March 21 , show that against 23 seats of the State-based parties, the Congress-I the only National Party to contest, secured a poor three.

The APHLC – HSPDP alliance has secured an absolute majority by bagging 21 seats out of 29. The other local party, PDIC, which has obtained two seats, is in league with the Congress(I). Among the three Independents are two Ministers – Mr Kitdor Syiem and Dr F A Khonglam (who had defected from the APHLC and the HSPDP respectively in the wake of ministerial instability last year). The third Independent is the mercurial young leader of the Hynniewtrep National Front (HNF).

One seat will be nominated by the govt.

Observers say that the results of the District Council election have only brought out the hard truth that the Congress(I) is yet to find grass-root level acceptance in the district. The verdict is unlikely to have any immediate ramification on the state politics, but it would certainly bring pressure on the three defeated Ministers. The roaring success of the HSPDP is likely to embolden those detractors of the so called unity move, observers say.

The HSPDP President, Mr Hopingstone Lyngdoh told this reporter that the election results had shown that the people had not accepted the present Ministry. Both in 1983 and 1984, the people of Khasi Hills had rejected the national parties.

Fourteen contingents drawn from the BSF, Assam Rifles, Centre and State-Police, Home Guards NCC, Girl Guides, Boy Scout and school students took part in the Republic Day celebrations at the Polo grouuds on Jan 26. Mr E. K. Mawlong, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker took the salute.

Besides a shower of flowers on the national flag, the highlights included an aerial display of the tri-colour by air-force helicopters. Other attractions at the parade were two elephants of the State Forest Department, cultural pageants put up by the Jaintias, Khasis and Garos, and Bihu and Bhangra dances. Display of weaponry and field communication systems by tue Army and tableaux of the Meghalaya Agriculture, Soil Conservation, Tourism Departments, and the State Electricity Board were also paraded.

In his speech, Mr Mawlong recalled the roles played by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and others in the freedom struggle. He went on to inform that steps had been taken to cope with the problem of infiltratton by foreigners. The border patrol, had been intensified, four watch posts and ten patrol posts had been set up, and five check gates and four passport check posts were functioning in the state.

He added that 604 registered Village Defence Parties, and 214 unregistered ones were also helping in checking large scale immigration. A specia1 squad had also been set up to check and detect infiltrators into the State. The one-man tribunal had already disposed off 219 cases out of the 251 referred to it. Two more foreigners tribunals are to be set up in the Jaintia and Garo Hills respectively.

Official sources said that it was decided that the 1978 voters list would be the basis for this election. In other words. those who voted in 1978 District Council election would be entitled to vote. There would be scope for updating, the sources said.

A non tribal who has had 12 years of fixed habitation in the District is eligible for voting in the District Council election it was clarified.

District Council Polls

As the administrative preparations are going on in full swing to conduct the District Council polls in Khasi Hills on March 15, the political parties have become active once again.

What is the importance of this election? Wbo have the biggest stakes in it?

From all indications available, this election is going to be a battle of artrition for the State-based parties, which, consequent, on being battered at the Garo Hills and Jaintia Hills District Council hustings earlier, have of late suffred considerable erosion of strengh, especially from the second-level leadership. The gainer, obviously, the Congress (I) – the party presently in power-is going the whole hog to complete the routing of the State-based parties.

Having virtually bungled with the so-called ‘‘unity move’’, the APHLC and HSPDP are fighting a desperate back to wall battle to defend their last moorings-the Khasi Hills District Council. In this pursuit the two parties have decided to work out a seat-adjusment. Party sources said that barring three constituencies there was clear unanimity among the leaders. Observers say that if the present election results are any guide, then the regional parties should have a clear edge over the Congress (I) For, it must be noted that the national party could never catch the imagination of the people of Khasi and Jantia Hills districts.

Presently riding a crest of succcess, the Congress (I) with “its superior resources, added by the current spate of defections from the regional parties, is poised to strike the hardest to wrest power – for the first time – from the local parties.

According to Mr. J.E. Tariang, the working pesident of the MPCC (I), the last of parties nominees would be released by February 14.

Meanwhile, a piquant situation has arisen following the near-total deletion of names of eligible non-tribal residents from the electoral rolls. It is gathered that although there was no instruction from the top some underlings have, taken upon themselves to ruthlessly strike off the non-tribal names from the list.

Traders in Shillong, it appears, have been given a virtual free hand by the State Weights & Measures Department. With practically little surveillance maintained by the department, the traders are having a field day at the expense of the consumers.

Knowledgeable circles believe that half of the traders in Shillong either donot have the prescribed scales and measurement devices or are culprits of manipulating the scales.

The consumers sadly lack in consciousness. They usually make their purchases in good faith, seldom realizing how they are being taken for a ride by the cunning traders. Be it the grocer’s shop or the fish and vegetable stalls the tale is the same. By an expert maneuver of the scales the shopkeepers either increase the weight or decrease depending, upon what the item is.

There are a number of shops in Bara Bazar, which are openly violating the Weights and Measures regulations. Some of the stalls use such ridiculous stuff as a small stone chip in lieu prescribed weights. Many of the stalls donot even observe the modicum of official regulation; all the stalls are required to suspend their scales from a fixed point. Instead the shopkeepers use their expert hands each time a customer buys a commodity.

Irate consumers complain bitterly about the non-performance of the Weights & Measures Department. It is alleged that there has been total lack of initiative on the part of the Department to carry out surprise checks at the various trading centres.