Meghalaya: Inhabitants of Harijan colony finally agree to relocate with the condition
It appears that the Harijan colony issue in Shillong may finally be resolved as residents of Harijan Colony have finally agreed to relocate from Them Iew Mawlong with several riders, including a commitment to provide land in the European Ward of the city for 342 families.
Meeting with the state government on the relocation offer was the high point of Harijan Panchayat Committee’s (HPC) meeting on Monday.
The Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters after the meeting that HPC had made a proposal with multiple conditions, even though it had agreed to relocate.
He added the government will now draft a blueprint and send the proposals to the HPC, following which they will hold another meeting with the people to reach a final decision. The next meeting will take place before May 15.
According to Tynsong, the HPC stipulated that the colony’s 342 settlers be resettled in the same place, which had to be government revenue land. They want pieces of land in the European Ward that they can pass down to their children and grandchildren.
Tynsong stated that after both parties reach an agreement, they will file a joint affidavit with the high court to end the dispute.
The HPC further stated that the community does not agree with the relocation of the Guru Nanak Darbar, Shiv Mandir, Durga Puja Mandir, Valmiki Ashram, CNI Church, and Guru Nanak School.
The HPC went on to say that roughly 60 persons who make a living by running shops along the colony lane should be permitted to do so.
“We are not opposed to relocation, but we want a permanent settlement,” Singh said, adding that if the government had undertaken negotiations with them during the last four years, the issue would have been resolved. Process T Sawkmie, a suspended Congress MLA from Mawlai, said the state government should have rejected the HPC’s proposals immediately as they were presented.
Sawkmie argued that the requests were unrealistic and that the HPC was not interested in having a serious conversation with the government.
“There are lakhs of landless people in our state, and they want a large piece of land, as well as the expense of construction, which is not feasible,” he continued.
