I’m writing this in connection with a news item that was published recently regarding the intention of the current dispensation to initiate a proposal for industrial investment through the creation of ‘Land Banks’.
The initiative is a welcome step and as a resource expert deeply involved at the grassroots level in community development, I understand this move will greatly support specific need-based investment unlike what we currently see.
To readers, let me be brief, the concept of a ‘Land Bank’ was earlier moved under the mentorship of Bah Phrang Roy and Late Professor A K Nongkynrih of NEHU through the IFAD-MRDS project and this was meant to address and accommodate landless farming households.
Under the Meghalaya Institute of Governance, we had developed and devised the model framework of ‘Land Banks’ across the State with the intention to support and assist marginal farming communities at the Dorbar Raid and Dorbar Shnong under a systematic approach.
However this current objective to address sector -specific through collaborative investment has to be devised in a different model considering that the Autonomous District Councils have a say in matters of land and land ownership.
I hope that the government authorities take a deeper look before stepping up with utmost understanding of the need towards land reforms.
