Meghalaya heading towards uncertainty as NGOs demands for ILP implementation Written by Meghalaya Times. Posted in Editorial Thomas Lim The public meeting held on August 16, 2013, at the state capital in Motphran set August 29 next to Meghalaya government to set in motion the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP), failing which Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) comprising of pressure groups and students’ unions warned of intensive agitation. The state capital has been peaceful for the past few years, except the unrest in Garo Hills, hence the fast pace of development in terms of trade and commerce. Meghalaya has had a series of unrest due to agitation, due to which not only the developmental works have been hampered, the students communities were the worst affected in terms of completion of syllabus. At present the rest of the nation are very much disturbed due to the fall of India currency, where Rupee depreciated further to Rs 62 per Dollar, and the onion price too are rising like summer mercury. The economists feared that both the Rupee and Onion valuation will soon make century. Like any other national crisis hardly hampered the public in Meghalaya, the demand of ILP is the same. Yes, it is extremely important to protect and preserve the traditional customs, hence the phobia of Influx is genuine, as it could change the demography of the state. Hence the NGOs felt it utmost important in protecting the custom and sacrificing the development which only means more influx. On the debate, if Meghalaya in particular and North Eastern Region in general needs ILP, any economists will reply that this region needs economic development , employment, industries, airports, road communications, health care facilities, education and most of all tapping the human resources which is scarce. The NGOs are banking on the state government to set the stage for the implementation of ILP by August 29, whereas the state government can only move the bill in the State Assembly and send it for the approval through Parliament. As ILP falls under the purview of central government and it falls under the Directive Principles of State Policy. Hence, in order to defuse the tension, there is no harm for the state government to set the ball rolling, as ultimately it is up to the sanction of the parliament when it comes to implementing the act in the state. One of the main areas of debates is the National Highways connecting most of the North East states, with Meghalaya being utilized as the transit point. Once the ILP is imposed, the remaining states need not suffer much, as the four way lane via Halflong from Silchar to Guwahati and Broad Gauge is about to complete. Once it is complete, the people of Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, and from Barak Valley will prefer the short distance, instead of travelling via Shillong. This also means Meghalaya will be totally confined within the state; it is rest assured all the night super will not take the existing long route; hence the ILP will further insulate any inflow of influx. The student unions have assured in the public meeting the ILP will not prevent any tourists or causal workers, it will only prevent illegal settler in the state. Off course it is debatable if it will affect the revenue of the state, as at present the flow of tourist is less compared to Darjeeling and Sikkim, both the state entirely depend on service and tourism sectors. The main revenue sources in Meghalaya are timber and coal; both are now facing crisis, timber due to the blanket ban by Supreme Court while coal is not finding much demand in the market. The erstwhile education hub too is losing its claim to Assam, meaning the inflow of students from other parts of the states also have declined in recent years. Now, the influx is mainly in the mining sector also in the construction field, both are the pet projects of the tycoons and politicians in the state. It also means the influx of such labours is with the blessing of the tycoons and politicians; the NGOs must target such people instead of taking the general public as ransom while demanding the implementation of ILP. It is wiser not to affect the economics of the state but study the genesis of influx and nip it in the bud, be it the tycoons or the politicians. The masses can prevent such unscrupulous section of tycoons selling and eating into the state economics while the general public suffers. It is time to call the kettle black!
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 06:13:07 +0000