North Shillong MLA Adelbert Nongrum fears that Meghalaya is losing too much agricultural land to non-farming uses and was disappointed to see the failure of his Agriculture Land Regulation Bill to take off in the recent Budget Session of the Assembly.
Nongrum had tried to introduce his bill in the house on March 8. He then accused the Speaker, Metbah Lyngdoh, of not following procedure in preventing the legislator from bringing the bill forward. However, Nongrum’s attempt at moving privilege notice against the Speaker was rejected by a cross section of MLAs.
When asked about this, he told Highland Post today, “They may have the numbers but I have my principles.”
Still batting for his bill, the representative of one of the most urban parts of Shillong said that vast areas of fertile land in the state has been lost to residential, recreational, institutional, industrial and commercial activities in the last 50 years.
His bill, Nongrum said, would have defined exactly what constitutes agricultural land and mandate restrictions of its use.
“The bill empowers a regulatory authority with a mechanism for dispute resolution and lays down a clear intention for restoration of agricultural land,” he said, adding that this would protect farmers and ensure food security.
