SHILLONG:
The state government has filed an affidavit before the Meghalaya High Court with regard to the contentious issue of relocation of 342 families of Harijan Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.
Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar on Thursday told reporters that now the matter is left to the court to decide.
The minister said that the government will have a meeting in a few days and take a call on the matter.
According to him, this was after the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) had rejected the government’s proposal to relocate the families to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).
When asked, Dhar, however, said that the government will always welcome the HPC if they want to discuss the matter.
On April 24, the Meghalaya High Court deferred the hearing on the issue to June 7.
The order was passed by the division bench based on the request made by the state government and the HPC during the hearing held here.
The government had come up with a blueprint after rejecting 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.
In its recent 6-page reply sent to the Deputy Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya and other departments concerned, the HPC had alleged that the proposal of the government was “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”
The HPC had also stated in its reply that “There are serious lacunae, sweeping and undesirable conclusions in the approach and attitude of the High-Level Committee of the Meghalaya government.”
“We are absolutely devastated that since the formation of the new government, ministers, MLAs, and certain groups have been making unnecessary remarks saying that the whole issue would be resolved within the month of April. What magical trick do they have up their sleeve to resolve the issue within days? The matter is sub-judice and they are only paying lip service to respect for the judiciary. We will not buckle under political duress,” it had also added.