Meghalaya Tourism Min says “Rule of law must prevail” over new norms for hit-and-run case

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Jan 5: Tourism Minister and MDA spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh today said that the rule of law must prevail.

He was responding to a question on the 48-hour protest called by the tourist taxi associations against the yet-to-be-implemented Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which seeks to increase the punishment in hit-and-run cases.

“This is a matter of concern not just for Meghalaya but the entire nation and of course we have seen a rise in cases of harsh driving and a lot of cases where drivers have taken undue advantage of the laws of the land. So the rule of law must prevail,” Lyngdoh told reporters.

The minister said, “As we speak, this is a protest that is being organised across the country so in fact movement of tourists is impeded across India and it is not something that Meghalaya on its own specially being a landlocked state not take measures of our own it has to be in tandem with what the rest of the country is doing.”

Today, tourist taxis in Meghalaya stayed off the roads in support of the country-wide protest against the BNS.

Meanwhile, the tourist taxi associations have decided to end the 48-hour protest tomorrow.

Govt looking for options to introduce railway

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Sept 15: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today said the State government is still looking at other regions of the State for implementation of the railway project.

This was after the railway projects in the Khasi Hills region have faced roadblocks due to strong opposition from different quarters including pressure groups apprehending influx.

Sangma told reporters that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) people are correct that there is no question of closing it (railway project) but there is no question of forcing it also.

He said the first project (in Khasi Hills) is facing some hurdles as there are constraints and the government needs to address those concerns and that is taking time.

“In the meantime, certain funds were parked for a certain project and since it is not moving forward obviously the Government of India will ask questions how long will you keep this money. So either we give it back or we divert it to another project within the State itself and try to utilize that money so that it doesn’t go to waste and hence, we are exercising and trying to find out if there are other regions in the State, who would be open to the idea of a railway and that exercise has started,” Sangma said.

“I have expressed the same to the railway minister and the railway minister has told me he is open to that idea. Therefore, we will examine it from that angle and see if there are other projects we can move forward with and if it is there, we would like to do that otherwise it will be a loss for the State in terms of finances as the money has already come in for certain parts of the railway,” he added.

Further, the chief minister said from a development perspective, all want to see that railways should come to the capital and it would improve the overall connectivity, trade and the economy.

“There are challenges, there are concerns and different stakeholders have different concerns and therefore, we would like to carry everybody along so obviously no one is saying we are going to shelve it off but the issue is that there are funds lying for certain projects,” he said while adding “Since if the first one is not moving, we will move with a different option and at the same time we will continue to discuss and engaged with different stakeholders and try to find an amicable way in which we can proceed with the project as it is something good for the state and it can be done in a phase-wise manner – so all options are open.”

On the implementation of ILP to pave the way for railway lines in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, Sangma however said ILP is a mechanism in place to address illegal immigrants and concerns of the people but there are other mechanisms that could also be there to address the concerns.

“Therefore, ILP is not the concern, the concern is illegal immigration and infiltration and people feel that ILP or some stakeholders feel that ILP can help in addressing those concerns. There are other ways also which is why we introduced the MRRSA and other mechanisms.

So we feel that discussions are on. Stakeholders have mentioned that these are conditions so let us see how it goes along. We will keep engaging and we will try to resolve the issue,” he added further.

Don Bosco Technical School alumni meet in June

Don Bosco Technical School, at its centenary year, will hold a meeting of its past pupils of batches 2010 – 2022 on June 6.

In a statement issued today, DBTS Rector/Director also invites all former students to come and join the gathering of old friends and familiar faces.

The meeting will provide an opportunity for past pupils to reunite, reminisce about their school days, and catch up with old friends. There will be a range of programmes planned for the day, including entertainment, meeting and dinner, and networking opportunities.

Attendees will also have a chance to meet and interact with the current students and staff of DBTS.