HLC recommends introduction of ILP

Shillong, Oct 15: To check influx the high level committee headed by the deputy chief minister Bindo M Lanong recommended to the government for the introduction of the Inner Line Permit in Meghalaya and also giving more teeth to the Interstate Workmen Act, 1979.

After the second meeting of the committee Monday which was also attended by ngos and legislators, Lanong said reporters, “The consensus of the high level committee was the introduction of ILP even though there were suggestions on having a three tiers system to control influx into the state,”

In fact the Meghalaya government had constituted a fact finding committee in 2001 to study the impact of the ILP in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. Now the committee will study the findings which might help in formalizing the proposal for the introduction of the ILP.

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Answering to queries whether Chief Minister Mukul Sangma will accept the suggestion for introduction of ILP in the state, Lanong said, “The chief minister is “democratic” and hoped he will have an open mind on this issue.”

The committee also suggested to the state government to give more teeth to the Interstate Workmen Act, 1979 to make it more functional in spirit and in words.

The Khasi Students Union (KSU), FKJGP, HNYF, JYF, GSU who attended the meeting also pointed out  to the clashes of different government authorities when it comes to registering
of migrant labourers in the state. The committee took down the complaint and said it would recommend to the government to solve the existing conflict between different authorities doing the same job of registering labourers.

.Meanwhile, Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF) chairman RG Lyngdoh is against the introduction of ILP in the state. He said, “Isolation is
not the answer” pointing to North Korea and South Korea economies.

Lyngdoh said while South Korea’s economy is thriving because of their openness North is a “dead” one because the inflow of outsiders are regulated.

Lyngdoh wanted to know if the North Korea’s model should be encouraged and stifled the economy. He said there are a lot of negativities that
comes with tourism but we should not be scared. He felt the state needs to build capacity by collecting information on the problems and fight it out.-By Our Reporter