SHILLONG:
The state government has decided to soon invite the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) for discussion on the proposal to relocate the 342 families of Harijan Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).
The decision comes a day after the HPC submitted its reply to the Meghalaya government’s blueprint alleging that the proposal of the government was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”
A meeting was also convened by the deputy chief minister in-charge Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong in presence of deputy chief minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar with officials of the government to discuss the issue here on Friday.
“First of all we have to study the reply (submitted by the HPC) and see what they have stated and based on that we will call a meeting,” Dhar told reporters while informing that the government will likely invite the HPC for discussion next week.
He said the meeting convened by Tynsong, who is also chairman of the high level committee (HLC), discussed how to move forward on the matter.
On the HPC’s decision to stick to its demands, Dhar however, said, “They (HPC) have the right to demand whatever they want and as a government we will examine it whether it is feasible or not. That is the reason why negotiation and discussion is still going on.”
“We will see after discussion what the next course of action should be. It is not appropriate for me to speak on the next course of action,” he added.
Reiterating that negotiation is still on with the HPC, the deputy chief minister said hoping the discussions will throw up a positive result and the matter will be settled amicably. “We want them to work with the government…” he said.
In a statement issued on Thursday, HPC secretary Gurjit Singh had reiterated that, “our original demands presented in the “Eight-point resolution” still stand and we will not buckle under political duress merely because it is convenient for the government to do so and simply because due to passage of time, the land has become a commercial goldmine.”
On September 29, last year the state government had presented the blueprint to the HPC during a meeting, which indicated its decision to construct multi-storey flats at the existing official quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) for relocation of the 342 families.
The state government had outrightly rejected the April 25, 2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.