Meghalaya CM urges opposition parties to sit across table to discuss railway project.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has urged the opposition political parties to reconsider their decision and participate in the upcoming meeting of the all-party committee to discuss issues related to the proposed implementation of railway projects in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region.

The opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP), Trinamool Congress, and the Congress have declined to be a part of the all -party committee constituted to examine the issue of railway connectivity in Meghalaya.

“We got some negative responses from some political parties, so we were slightly not moving forward. My point is that whether you agree or you don’t agree, at least we sit and put our thoughts and ideas on the table”, Sangma told while briefing reporters yesterday. Emphasising the importance of discussion and democratic process in finding a way forward, the Chief Minister said, “Without having a democratic process in this whole thing, some political parties have decided not to participate in this, which I feel democratically is a very wrong message”.

Appealing to the opposition parties to reconsider their stand and participate in the meeting. “I am hoping that the parties will reconsider their stand, and then we will decide on the dates. And if that doesn’t happen, very soon we will finalise the dates.”

Several proposed railway projects in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region of Meghalaya, including the goods train railway project from Assam’s Tetelia to Byrnihat area in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district and the ambitious 108 km Byrnihat-Shillong rail network, have remained a non-starter. Currently only Garo Hills in the western part of Meghalaya has a rail network connecting Assam with Mendipathar in the North Garo Hills district.

“Unless ILP (Inner Line Permit) is implemented in Meghalaya, we at the KSU will continue to oppose tooth and nail the railway project in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region”, KSU President Lambokstar Marngar said. ILP is a special permit required by residents of other regions of the country to enter Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.

On December 19, 2019, the Meghalaya Assembly had unanimously adopted a resolution urging the central government to introduce the ILP regime into the state by including Meghalaya in the preamble of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873.

Team Maverick