GUWAHATI:
The United Garo Autonomous Council Movement Committee (UGACMC) has sought clarification from the Meghalaya government on the fate of Garos living along the inter-state border in the wake of the proposed agreement between the two state governments for the merger of more than 50 Garo villages with Meghalaya.
Assam government has proposed to hand over 50 villages dominated by the Garo community in a 18.29 sq km area along boundary of Kamrup (Metro)-Ri-Bhoi and Kamrup (Rural) –West Khasi Hills districts in a bid to end the border row in six of the 12 areas of dispute.
A delegation of UGACMC will meet Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma in Shillong soon to discuss the land rights of Garos in West Khasi Hills and voting rights in Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC).
The UGACMC, which has been fighting for a satellite Autonomous Council for Garos in Assam, fears that the Garos living in the border villages will be denied their land and voting rights if these are merged with Meghalaya. As many as 4.5 lakh Garo people living in various villages of Assam’s Kamrup and Goalpara districts have opted to stay with Assam.
“Majority of Garo people residing along the border have unanimously decided to stay in Assam with the sole purpose of maintaining the age-old continuity, social security and tranquility with the people of Assam which are the quintessential prerequisites for the all-round socio-economic development of the people of the state. The fate of our people will be uncertain if the villages were to be handed over to Meghalaya,” UGACMC chairman Alex K Sangma and general secretary Thengsil Sangma said in a statement here on Sunday.
A delegation of the UGACMC called on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma here last week and sought his intervention in the matter of land and voting rights of the Garos if their villages are merged with Meghalaya.
“We have registered our land documents and obtained permanent pattas from the Assam government long before the creation of Meghalaya from the erstwhile composite state of Assam. This was possible because the revenue department of Assam government had undertaken cadastral survey throughout the state,” they said.
“Based on our permanent land pattas, we are paying out land revenue to Assam government annually. The people of Meghalaya on the other side of the border can’t register their land documents in the Autonomous District Councils of Khasi Hills and Jayantia Hills except for Garo Hills Autonomous District Council due to the absence of a cadastral survey which makes it difficult for people to maintain the land records.
The permanent residents of Assam had also power line connection for the domestic and industrial purposes from the Assam government long before the Meghalaya government extended power lines to its citizens in the border areas,”
they also said.
“In addition to electricity, our people are also getting a regular supply of essential commodities from Assam government through fair price shops distributed monthly under the National Food Security Act 2013,” they said.
“We are the second largest community after the Bodos in Assam. Only fulfilling the demand of a Garo Autonomous Council can address our hopes and aspirations by which we can preserve our unique identity, language and culture,” they said. Many Garo leaders, who led the movement for the creation of Meghalaya state, have been demanding an autonomous council for long.
The Assam government had constituted the Garo Development Council (GDC) through a government notification No TAD/BC/55/2021/2 on January 28, 2021, for the welfare and development of the community.
However, the state government has not released a single pie to the council since its inception which has caused great resentment among the people.
Since independence, the Assam government has failed to take up any development work in the Garo-dominated areas along the border.
However, the Meghalaya government has been doing its best to develop the border villages on its side, they said and added that the Assam government should step up implementation of various infrastructure projects in the inter-state border which will benefit the people living along the border.