SHILLONG:
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong has expressed annoyance over the letter submitted by the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) for terming the relocation proposal of the government as “incomplete, unsuitable, unprepared, unfair and undemocratic.”
“You go through the arguments; they said they were here 160 years. Is it correct? is it justified? I don’t want to comment further. If they want to fight, let them fight,” Tynsong said on April 21.
An irritated Tynsong further said that when they received the letter from HPC, he has nothing more to say because the plot of land selected for the relocation was a “wonderful location”, which falls under European Ward.
“Their demand was 200 square metres plot of land and Rs 20 lakh each unit. How can we consider that? From day 1, I told them we will have a blueprint which is acceptable to both sides – because nowadays it is difficult to get a plot of land,” Tynsong, who is also chairman of the high level committee (HLC), said.
Furthermore, he informed they will call for another meeting to discuss the plan of action even as he stated that, “as per the letter, it seems they don’t even want to sit across the table to discuss the pros and cons. Now this direction comes from high court that we need to sought it out. we will be able to tell only when we submit our affidavit to the high court.”
A meeting was convened on April 21 by 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.
In a statement issued on April 20, 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.
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