Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today informed the Assembly that a prior agreement signed with his opposite number in Assam has meant that development work in disputed areas along the inter-state border can proceed smoothly.
Sangma said this in response to a query put by Congress legislator for Mawhati, Charles Marngar, who requested that the copy of the agreement should be circulated to all local headmen in the disputed villages so that they can use this as support when faced with harassment from Assam authorities.
Sangma said that there are situations where work being carried out by Assam is stopped by Meghalayan citizens and it is not always one way traffic.
“That’s the reason why the two Chief Ministers have always agreed that whatever the differences we may have, why should the development work suffer? And therefore, if you look at the entire list, almost 99% of the work is going on as normal,” he added.
These agreements were put down in writing in the past, before Sangma became CM but they have been reiterated and reinforced by the two current state leaders.
“In the case of all development works that are going in terms of respective states, if there is any kind of intervention from the other side, then the respective Deputy Commissioners would sort it out. If it’s not possible at their level, it will be put up higher at the OSD level and if not, then at the Chief Secretary level and further at the Chief Minister level,” he said.
Marngar informed the house that there are many developmental works hindered by Assam, like the construction of the ICDS building at Madan Umwang, a lower primary SSA school destroyed, a JJM scheme at Jatalong and a Dorbar hall at Umru village stopped.
He urged the CM to immediately stop the highhanded attitude of Assam government for smooth functioning of the developmental works coming from Meghalaya side.
Sangma however said that out of the 50 developmental works in Umru area all are progressing, except three works have been stopped according to a report.
“In another list, there’s a list of approximately 16 projects that are going on and none of them have been stopped. The five projects from the Fisheries Department have not been stopped. Then another seven from C&RD (Community and Rural Development Department) – none of them have been stopped and the 44 schemes from the border area are being implemented and none has been stopped,” he said, adding that the only cases where the work has been halted has been in a few instances where localised issues and problems have to be sorted out.
“Whenever we get information about any work being stopped, the Deputy Commissioners or the concerned officers at that level, keep in touch, and try to resolve the matter as early as possible. In some cases, the matter is more complex than others. But we’ve seen that in the last few months and years, a large number of projects which had been stopped, have resumed and a lot of work is happening,” he said, adding that in some cases the situation is more complex and starting project work could lead to more tension in that area.
