KAM Meghalaya’s independent candidate, Angela Rangad today said that coal mining should serve greater common good instead of criminal capture of the State, corporate greed, devastation of ecology and environment and violation of human rights.
Rangad said that a handful of people are taking advantage of the minerals to enrich themselves at the cost of the environment and the people are getting poorer.
“In Meghalaya, artisanal mining has been happening for years, but it is not at the scale of individually owned mining. Today it is controlled by just a few families which is something we are opposed to,” she said.
Rangad said the government cannot ignore the laws. “First and foremost, the Meghalaya government cannot be ignoring the laws that are there. They have to follow the laws. We do not want a state of impunity,” she said, adding, “If at all mining has to happen it has to be that indigenous people community owned mining.”
She also stressed on the need for fast track courts to prosecute all those running illegal check gates and extortion rackets. Illegal check gates have made Meghalaya a resource strapped state as there are leakages on an everyday basis, she said.
In an age of information technology, Rangad said, the online system should be pushed, where the state can tag transport because this will ensure transparency.
