The Meghalaya Chief Minister, Capt W.A. Sangma, has underscored the need for introducing a mobile legal aid unit in the State.

He was of the view that legal and committees should be created not only in district headquarters but also in all sub-divisional headquarters.

Capt. Sangma was speaking as Chief guest at the fourth legal aid camp of the stte at Mendipathar in East Garo Hills District on May 5 last. The function was presided over by the Law Minister, Mr G Mylliemngap.

Capt Sangma said that legal aid in the state was a continuous process for providing legal assistance to the people especially the weaker sections of society, he stated.

The Speaker of the Meghalaya Assembly, Mr E K Mawlong has called upon the engineers and technical experts to engage attention to the pressing need for developing Shillong on a modern footing.

He was inaugurating a seminar on “the development amenities in Greater Shillong” here on May 25.

Mr Mawlong said “no time should be lost if the city is to be save from going the same way as others in the Third World. A challenging task before us therefore is to make Shillong once again a city worthy of the name Scotland of the East.”

Shillong, the Speaker he said had undergone “unprecedented and phenomenal growth” especially during the last decade. It was about time attention was given to the task of identifying the major problems and arrive at certain guidelines for present and future action plans.

Noted engineers and experts from various disciplines presented valuable papers projecting different facets of development of basic amenities in Greater Shillong areas. The seminar was organized by the Shillong Sub-Centre of the Institute of Engineers.

The dismissal of Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s Ministry in the tiny Himalayan State of Sikkim has not come too soon, nor too much unexpectedly either. Conditions of a political crisis, ending up in such a drastic move, were brewing for quite sometime, some inkling of which was available in the prolonged tussle between tho Chief Minister and the Governor. Sikkim had problems for itself and for New Delhi even from the days of its royal regime; if its formal absorption into Indian Statehood solved some, many of those born of its multi-racial demographic composition lingered. Some were even accentuated, with the Chief Minister’s suspected preference. for one of the major ethnic groups.

The evil day for him last week could have probably been deferred yet a while if Mr. Bhandari had not chosen to be as adamant on some at least of the issues over which the Governor, acting on his own and for New Delhi, could not any longer afford to be compromising. On the other hand, the parting of the ways would have come much earlier had it not been for the fact that it was not quite a pleasant job for the Congress(I) Government at the Centre to persuade itself to dismiss a state government run in the name of the same political party. In any case, the timing of the dismissal would appear to lead it the character of a gamble: Bhandari would surely mobilise all his resources to get his points okayed by the verdict of the general election hardly four months away. New Delhi, on its part, has probably ensured that the benefits of his high office are not among his other resources.

Land sale by poor tribals

A national seminar held recently at Gauhati recommended inter alia the formation of study teams, both at the State levels and the national, to go deep into the loopholes of the existing laws relating to tribal land and indebtedness, and suggest measures to protect tribal interests. The seminar expressed particular concern at the Increasing number of transfer of land belonging to the poor tribal people to the richer section of the tribal community. This is an aspect on which not much attention has been rivetted so far in dealing generally with what is regarded as the problem of alienation of tribal land.

So much emphasis in fact has been laid in recent times on preventing transfer of tribal land to non-tribals that in the whole process the case of deprivation of land of the poor among the tribals by the comparatively richer sections of the tribals themselves have largely been lost-sight of. In this connection, the seminar has made a novel suggestion that the State Gevernment or a cooperative society may purchase the land offered by a distressed tribal on condition that the land would be returned to the orginal owner on repayment of the value of the land. This option, however, can be allowed only for a reasonable period of time and not indefinitely.

The dismissal of Nar Bahadur Bhandari’s Ministry in the tiny Himalayan State of Sikkim has not come too soon, nor too much unexpectedly either. Conditions of a political crisis, ending up in such a drastic move, were brewing for quite sometime, some inkling of which was available in the prolonged tussle between the Chief Minister and the Governor, Sikkim had problems for itself and for New Delhi even from the days of its royal regime; if its formal absorption into Indian Statehood solved some, many of those born of its multi-racial demographic composition lingered. Some were even accentuated with the Chief Minister’s suspected preference for one of the major ethnic groups.

The evil day for him last week could have probably been deferred yet a while if Mr Bhandari had not chosen to be as adamant on some at least of the issues over which the Governor, acting on his own and for New Delhi, could not any longer afford to be compromising. On the other hand, the parting of the ways would have come much earlier had it not been for the fact that it was not quite a pleasant job for the Congress (I) Government at the Centre to persuade itself to dismiss a state government run in the name of the same political party. In any case, the timing of the dismissal would appear to lend it the character of a gamble: Bhandari would surely mobilize all his resources to get his points okayed by the verdict of the general election hardly four months away. New Delhi, on its part, has probably ensured that the benefits of his high office are not among his other resources.

A national seminar held recently at Gauhati recommended inter alia the formation of study teams, both at the State levels and the national, to “go deep in to the loopholes” of the existing laws relating to tribal land and indebtedness, and suggest measures to protect tribal interests. The seminar expressed particular concern at the increasing number of transfer of land belonging to the poor tribal community. This is an aspect on which not much attention has been riveted so far in dealing generally with what is regarded as the problem of alienation of tribal land.

So much emphasis in fact has been laid in recent times on preventing transfer of tribal land to non-tribals that in the whole process the case of deprivation of land of the poor among the tribals by the comparatively richer sections of the tribals themselves have largely been lost-sight of. In this connection, the seminar has made a novel suggestion that the State Government or a cooperative society may purchase the land offered by a distressed tribal on condition that the land would be returned to the original owner on repayment of the value of the land. This option, however, can be allowed only for a reasonable period of time and not indefinitely.

A competition on Khasi songs was organized by the Hynniewtrep  Cultural and Welfare Organization (HTCWO) here on May 12.
The Speaker of the Meghalaya Assembly Mr E K Mawlong, who was the chief guest said it was also essential for the youth to come forward and to compete with others in such fields in the national level as well. “Khasi youths do not lack talent they can easily make a name for themselves provided  they work hard,” he said.
In the men’s category the first prize went to Splinter R Marbaniang, the second to P K Warlarpih, and the third to Besparly Rapsang.
Mishila Thabah, Mary bell Jyrwa, and Duh Duh Lyngdoh, were awarded the first, second and third prizes respectively in the women’s section.
The first, second and third prizes for the best group singers went ot Arthur Kongri and company, Jacinta War and Company and Rinus Lyngskhor and company respectively.
Govt. takes over Commerce College
The State Govt. has taken over the Shillong Commerce College by an ordinance issued hear on May 14.
The ordinance said that the period of take over would be for five years initially. The college which is in a moribund state for nearly a decade was a private venture. It ran into rough weather following clashes between the Education Department and its management.
The ordinance says, inter allia, the State Government may utilize the properties of the College for such educational purposes, including running of science college as it deems necessary.

KJP Hospital affairs

The Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Synod has accepted the resignation of Dr E.C. Syngkon, Medical Superintendent of the Khasi Hills Presbyterian Hospital, giving a new turn to the affairs of the prestigious missionary hospital of the North-East.

The Synod has appoionted a clergyman to man the post temporarily. Rev. C Jyrwa, the new Medical Superintendent of the hospital, is looking after the routine administrative affairs. The Reverend is the senior executive secretary of the Synod.

Dr Syngkon who is a distinguished medical practioner having 34 years of hospital service behind him, had sent in his letter of resignation sometime back following strong differences between the doctors and synod. As a sequel to the rift, the management had served show cause notices to the doctors who in protest had submitted en bloc resignation. The fate of the resignation letters have still remained unresolved.

Three Cabinet Ministers Dr. Flinder A. Khonglam (HSPDP) Minister, Industries Mr Indro Pariat Minister, (HSPDP) Excise and Mr Kitdor Syiem (APHLC) Minister, Community Development – have joined the Congress(I).

With this the Party’s strength in the Assembly has gone up to 30.

IN their letters to the President of the MPCC (I) they have stated that after their association with Capt. W A Sangma Chief Minister of Meghalaya for more than a year now they realized that “if speedy development of the State is to take place in this poor and backward region it can be done only through the Indian National Congress(I) under the able leadership of Capt. Sangma in the State and the able guidance and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi in the country as a whole.”

Consequently, after due consideration and consultations made with their respective electorate they decided to join the Indian National Congress on the 18th of May 1984.

Capt. Sangma as President of the Meghalaya PCC(I) has duly admitted them into the party with effect from May 18th after consultation with the respective DCC(I) Presidents.

Some Opposition MLAs called on the Chief Minister on May 19 to press for the resignation of the PHE Minister and the Minister of State.

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 During the half hour discussion the Chief Minister reportedly said that he was aware of the allegations. He explained the steps taken by the Govt for establishing the truth. Captain Sangma remained non committal about the demand for resignation, it is learnt.

The Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills district, Mr G N Bhattacharjee, is conducting enquiry in to the alleged fraudulent purchases in the PHE Department’s Garo Hills wing involving an amount of Rs. 1.40 crores.

According to sketchy reports available from Tura, there have been prime facie irregularities in purchases of materials in three Divisions – Tura, Williamnagar and Baghmara.

In Tura Division the amount involved is Rs. 77 lakhs. In Williamnagar the alleged unauthorized purchases amount to Rs. 63 lakhs, while Baghmara contributes another Rs 17 lakhs.

The report said that the Superintending Engineer of Tura, who is in overall charge of these Division did not send any report to the Govt about these irregularities.

The Executive Engineers of Williamnagar and Baghmara Divisions are said to be in possession of recommendatory chits from the “top”. The Executive Engineer of Tura Division, however, has “destroyed” all the chits he had received in connection with the supplies.

Official sources here said that the Govt was awaiting the return of the PHE Secretary who has gone to Tura for gathering a first-hand report of the actual affairs.