The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) on Thursday presented to the new Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government a series of old demands especially measures to check influx.
KSU president Lambokstarwell Marngar and other members met chief minister Conrad K. Sangma in the presence of other ministers and submitted a memorandum to the government that contained various demands.
Marngar told reporters that the KSU has opposed the proposed mining of uranium.
He said that the Chief Minister assured that the state government would not move ahead on this issue.
Stating that the government should take the issue of implementing Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state to Assembly for discussion, Marngar said that MLAs should discuss this issue especially when some political parties have already include it in their election manifesto, to which the chief minister said that he would discuss this matter thoroughly.
“In the past, the government did not want to implement ILP, and now the state government should again take up this issue for discussion in Assembly,”Marngar said.
The KSU also opposed construction of railway lines and said that it would continue to oppose until a strong mechanisms to check influx are in place.
The KSU also demanded exemption of Meghalaya from the Indo-Nepal Treaty and urged the state government to take up with the Centre to exempt Meghalaya from the treaty to prevent free movement of people from Nepal to the region, while reminding that various organizations under the umbrella of Northeast Students Organisation also opposed the treaty.
Marngar said that on inter-state boundary dispute, only Meghalaya government has been respecting the status quo whereas Assam did not honour.
He asked the state government to seriously take steps towards finding solution to the pending dispute.
Other demands raised by the KSU include implementation of education policy, and setting up of government colleges in all districts, and take measures to ensure transparent recruitment by the MPSC and do away with personal interview.
“If personal interview cannot be done away with, let it remains but the interview should be conducted before video camera,” he said.
Moreover, the KSU asked the government to speed up setting up of entry/exit points to check influx, and some projects under phase should not take time to complete.
On work permit systems for labourers from neighboring countries including Bangladesh, the KSU said that the permit system cannot be accepted since it would encourage more foreigners to come and seek job here even when locals are facing difficulties in getting jobs.