Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma on August 9 said that prime minister Narendra Modi has assured to examine demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system and inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
A delegation led by the chief minister had met prime minister in New Delhi on August 8 and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention in addressing crucial concerns of the state, including the implementation of the ILP system in the state.
Sangma said that the prime minister has assured that he would discuss the demand for implementation of ILP in Meghalaya with the Union home ministry.
The Meghalaya assembly in December 2019 had adopted a resolution for implementing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime in the state, which will impose restrictions on the entry and movement of ‘outsiders’ in the hill state. However, the Union ministry of home affairs is yet to consider the implementation of ILP in Meghalaya.
“We have told the prime minister about the desire of the people of the state to have a mechanism in our state where we could have provisions through which we could protect the interest of the people of the state and hence, we express that ILP is one of the ways we could do it,” Sangma told reporters after returning back from New Delhi.
“We have tried through Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA) also. We explained to him about MRSSA also and he gave us a very patient hearing and he understood the concerns of the people of the Northeast,” he added.
Sangma said that the prime minister also understood the long pending demand for inclusion of the Garo and Khasi languages in the constitution, the concerns that were there and understood the challenges that our people are facing.
With regard to the ongoing border talks between Meghalaya and Assam, the chief minister said the prime minister has expressed his concerns about the different incidents that keep taking place and why within a country these matters cannot be resolved.
“He (prime minister) was very appreciative of the leadership in the Northeast for having taken the initiatives and he said that these are very difficult challenges but yet the leadership in the different states are now taking this up. He has expressed a lot of happiness in that and he assured all support from the government side,” Sangma said.
Further, he said that the prime minister has also expressed his happiness on the ongoing peace talks with the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) and wanted the government to move forward and try to resolve the issue with the militant outfit at the earliest.
