Is New Delhi ready to bring Meghalaya under the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime?

What did Union Home Minister Amit Shah tell Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday?

Sangma, who has been camping in New Delhi for the last few days, at last, could meet Amit Shah, and reportedly discussed issues related to Meghalaya and the northeast.

Meghalaya CM, on Thursday afternoon, in a Twitter post, announced about his meeting with Amit Shah.  

But Sangma did not mention anything about Shah’s commitment on bringing Meghalaya under the ILP.

Earlier, it was reported that Meghalaya government’s proposal to introduce Inner-line Permit (ILP) regime in the state may not get the approval of New Delhi.

The Meghalaya Assembly on December 19 adopted a resolution for implementing ILP, which will impose restrictions on the entry of ‘outsiders’ in the hill state.

The resolution was moved by chief minister Conrad K Sangma, and members across party lines, including the ruling BJP, had supported it.

A one day special session was conducted on December 19 to pass the resolution in view of the demand by the indigenous people of the state for implementation of the ILP.

Interestingly, it took 41 days for the Meghalaya CM to meet Amit Shah, and discuss about the important issues of the state.

Sangma is under tremendous pressure to impose ILP in Meghalaya as pressure groups, mostly students unions and youth organizations, have intensified agitations on the demand.

Though ILP was extended to Manipur on December 11 with President Ram Nath Kovind signing the order, the pressure groups in Meghalaya are not happy with New Delhi on the issue.

It was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs, taking into account the prospect of growth of the tourism sector, is not keen on Meghalaya government’s proposal for introduction of ILP.

At present, ILP is applicable in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

Senior officials at the MHA are reportedly of the opinion that since Meghalaya is a Sixth Schedule state, the need to implement ILP does not arise.

It was also told that since Meghalaya is a “transit state” for Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and even Barak Valley in South Assam, introduction of ILP would be complicated.