SHILLONG:
The Harijan Panchayat Committee has agreed, in principle, to the blueprint prepared by the government for relocation of 342 families of Harijan Colony, but has made some suggestions for modification in certain areas, the state government has told the Meghalaya High Court.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh said, “Learned Advocate-General reports that Counsel for the Harijan Panchayat Committee has agreed, in principle, to the blueprint prepared by the government but has made some suggestions for modification in certain areas. Since the State is looking at the suggestions for modification, let the matter come up in three weeks hence. It is hoped that the parties will now resolve the long pending issue and give a quietus to these matters.”
The matter is listed on July 3.
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.
On August 31, 2022, the state government had announced its decision to construct housing flats at the 2.5 acres of land belonging to the SMB for relocation of the 342 families.
“Now we will demolish the old units and accordingly construct apartments of 5 or 7 stories as per Meghalaya Development Urban Authority (MUDA) byelaws,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had then informed.
Earlier, the HPC had rejected the blueprint of the government.
In its recent six-page reply sent to the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Meghalaya and other concerned departments, 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.