A village where the residents are largely of the Pnar community will likely be attached to Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills after an error in the 2023 border deal saw it placed under Assam’s jurisdiction.
Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar, who is the Chairman of the regional committee on the interstate border for EJH, today chaired a review meeting regarding the Assam-Meghalaya boundary memorandum of understanding (MoU) with respect to the border at Ratacherra, particularly on the inclusion of Baikam village in Meghalaya.
Dhar stated that there is a 99 per cent chance of Baikam being brought under Meghalaya’s jurisdiction as the villagers have expressed their desire to be part of the state.
According to Dhar, a survey conducted in 2022-2023 and the subsequent signing of an MoU between Meghalaya and Assam revealed that Baikam falls within Meghalaya’s territory. However, the village was inadvertently tagged to Assam during the MoU signing.
The residents of Baikam village had written to Dhar in 2023, expressing their desire to be under Meghalaya’s jurisdiction.
Dhar claimed that he had not been informed about Baikam until after the MoU was signed. “It was only when the villagers approached me that I became aware of the issue.”
However, even if he was not in the know, the plight of Baikam had made it into the news even before the agreement was signed in 2023. The previous year, the plight of the village was taken up by a pressure group, which had promised to take up the matter with the Meghalaya government.
While speaking on the development schemes availed by residents of Baikam, the Deputy CM said that the people are receiving benefits from both Meghalaya and Assam and thus a final decision needs to be made so that the people will get optimum access to government schemes.
Baikam has 300-plus residents across 37 households. Dhar informed that 30 of these households have expressed a desire to be a part of Meghalaya.
Meanwhile, EJH Deputy Commissioner Shivansh Awasthi said that a meeting was held with the residents of Baikam and, once the issue is resolved, the administration will be able to provide more assistance.
Awasthi informed that multiple coordination meetings were held in the past, including one with the DC of Assam’s Cachar to address the pending issue of Baikam with the aim to resolve the issue.
