SHILLONG, March 31: The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Kongkal Sangma said that the Parliament is the final authority that will give the stamp of approval on the settlement of the boundary between Meghalaya and Assam, after it has been agreed upon by the two States and after the decision of the two states is notified to the Central Government.
He said that the remainder is the survey to be completed by the Survey of India for which the two States have identified the villages and sites, and through the survey the boundary line for Meghalaya and Assam can be drawn. He said that the survey has been directed to be completed by the Survey of India along with the two States and after the survey is completed, the Indian Government will present the Bill in the Parliament to draw the boundary line which is the stamp of final approval.
He said that this task will take some time but what is delightful is that this task has moved forward, and added that the public have to understand, to trust on the two sides, the two States and also all the stakeholders.
He said that all the officers right up to the districts have rolled forward this task to resolve the boundary line. He said that after the incident in West Khasi Hills in which Assam erected boundary stones, he had promptly had a talk with the Chief Minister of Assam who expressed his concern over such incidents which should not happen at which he also spoke with the District Administrations of the districts in Assam.
Sangma said that with such incidents, due notice should be given in order to assure that the resolution of the border issue can move ahead smoothly and also for peace and harmony to remain in the borders so that people are not affected during the resolution talks process.
With regards to the disapproval of the civil society organisations and the Opposition to the agreement signed recently in Delhi, the Chief Minister said that it may be a decision that does not satisfy everyone, but the Government has tried to do the best it can for there are many sites which have been put under Meghalaya, and in the same way there are many that have gone to Assam, while adding that the principles of the resolution cannot be changed as per one’s wish because the same has been followed by Assam as well.
