The year 2021 was indeed an eventful year for Meghalaya. From illegal coal mining to irregularities in the State power corporation to the sudden desertion of 12 Congress MLAs, the year has been tumultuous for the State.
Approaching the first full year of the coronavirus pandemic, the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out in the State in January. Amidst widespread vaccine hesitancy, the Meghalaya High Court ruled that vaccination could not be made mandatory as there is no constitutional provision to force a person to get vaccinated. However, the government can ‘persuade’ and create awareness of the need to vaccinate, it said.
The second wave of Covid-19 arrived later in Meghalaya than it did in the rest of the country but was still devastating. Up to March 31, the State had witnessed 150 Covid-related deaths. The second wave arrived in April and by May the State was again in lockdown. There were 407 deaths from the coronavirus in May alone, with June, July and August each accounting for 200-plus before the curve dipped below 100 in September.
The government slowly lifted Covid restrictions in August but almost immediately had to impose curfew and an internet ban after Shillong was rocked by violence following the death of an ex-militant. The outlawed Hynñiewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) on a busy afternoon in Laitumkhrah. Although no one was injured, it sent shockwaves throughout a society that had largely forgotten the dark days of militancy. Public condemnation of the HNLC was swift but the militants’ image received a fillip after police launched a pre-dawn raid of the home of Cherishterfield Thangkhiew, a former top HNLC operative, in Mawlai, which resulted in his death. Police claimed self-defence but the public smelt a fake encounter and riots followed on August 14, leaving the city tense for a few days before the government partially caved in to demands and constituted an inquiry.
Illegal coal mining remained a hot topic during 2021 as hundreds of coal laden trucks were spotted along the highways and narrow by-lanes of the State despite stringent calls from activists and others to bring a semblance of order into the unlawful trade to prevent the leakage of crores of rupees in revenue.
In March the Lokayukta had asked the State government to initiate a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to uncover the “mastermind” behind illegal coal mining operations, including the trucking with impunity of the illegal booty on the State’s highways. The Lokayukta order was issued following a petition filed by the Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Mukul Sangma.
At the same time, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in March formed an oversight committee to put an end to illegal rat hole mining. The committee has 12 members headed by the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It has the responsibility of ending rathole mining in Meghalaya and implementing scientific mining.
However, after the announcement of the appointments, nothing has been heard of the workings of this committee. In January, an accident at an illegally-operated mine in East Jaiñtia Hills left six people dead near Rymbai, giving the lie to the government’s claim that there is no rat hole mining going on. The NGT panel also asked the state government to take action against illegal coke plants that have mushroomed in West Khasi Hills, with the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board seemingly having little control over them.
Moreover, BJP leader and Health Minister A L Hek was dropped from the cabinet of the MDA government on July 27 and was replaced by his fellow party legislator Sanbor Shullai. Hek claimed that he was replaced as he had criticised the style of functioning of the government especially on illegal coal mining.
Cash-strapped Meghalaya cut alcohol VAT and offered tax rebates to IAS officials. While the former was welcomed by large sections of society, the latter raised instant objections. The cabinet’s decision to refund the income tax paid by nontribal IAS officers raised eyebrows at a time when the state found it impossible to pay teachers’ salaries for months on end.
The Sweepers Colony fiasco at Them Ïew Mawlong in the city was continually on the boil over the year. The government attempt to shift the residents out of the colony has not been successful till date. However, seen as a move to curry favour with the electorate before the October 30 by-elections, the government did gain control over the land in question as the first phase in the three-part plan to relocate the residents, some of whom have raised legal objections to the plan.
Other emotive issues that saw little progress were the demand for the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and inclusion of the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Despite vociferous demands on the part of the State government, legislators, pressure groups and civil society, neither subject has appeared to get closer to the light of day. One issue that did, though, appears to be the border dispute between Meghalaya and Assam, something that has been a thorn in the side of both states ever since Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972.
Now approaching 50 years of statehood, the Conrad Sangma-led government is keen to present a resolution to the problem as a birthday gift to the people of the state. Talks, joint inspections and preparations of reports have been done by both states, which are hopeful of sorting out the dispute in at least six areas by early in 2022.
The Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), its financial problems, frequent power cuts, attempts to privatise and accusations of mismanagement hit the headlines several times over the larger part of the year. Claims of corruption, nepotism and favouritism of contractors, spearheaded by the various unions and associations of MeECL workers, forced the State government to accept that all is not right and appoint an inquiry to investigate all the charges.
Further, due to pressure from various quarters, cabinet minister James Sangma had to quit the power portfolio and Arun Kumar Kembhavi was removed as Chairman & Managing Director of MeECL. He was replaced by Rebecca Suchiang, who later in the year was appointed as the new Chief Secretary, Meghalaya’s first tribal woman to get the post. The MeECL uproar subsided with the government’s promise of an investigation into all the allegations but there has been quiet on that front since, with no details about how the probe is going.
Teachers felt themselves neglected throughout the year and they launched periodic agitations and issued calls for equal working conditions, pensions and retirement benefits. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan teachers, who have not received several months’ of salaries, have announced a noncooperation movement aimed at the government, while contractual teachers were also on the streets against the government decision to terminate their services.
Political news was dominated by the woes of the Congress party, which culminated in the defection of 12 of the 17 sitting MLAs, led by Dr. Sangma, into the arms of the Trinamool Congress, a nascent political force in Meghalaya. It all began when Shillong MP Vincent Pala was made president of the State Congress, which appeared to put ex-Chief Minister and undisputed party leader Dr. Sangma’s nose out of joint. The tension between the two was palpable and the situation worsened after the Congress lost all three by-elections at the end of October, including the two seats that it had held prior. The three by-polls were called for after the deaths of sitting MLAs – David Nongrum from Mawryngkneng, Dr. Azad Zaman from Rajabala and Syntar Klas Sunn from Mawphlang.
The Congress had some success in the delayed Garo Hills Autonomous District Council elections in April, returning the most number of MDCs (12) but, as has become the norm nationwide, failed to cobble together enough support to take power. All its support in Garo Hills has appeared to vanish since then, with Dr. Sangma carrying many Congressmen over to the Trinamool Congress.
The grand old party has also been devastated by mass resignations from the party across Meghalaya, the Youth Congress and affiliated National Students Union of India. The rump Congress tried to get the 12 defectors disqualified as legislators but Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh ruled that they had not broken the rules as laid out in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
