Meghalaya cabinet Minister and spokesperson of MDA 2 Government Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh while reacting to the demand for the implementation of ILP in the state on Tuesday said it is the Government of India matter, consent from centre is required.
Talking to reporters in Shillong, Lyngdoh said that the cabinet is waiting for the chief minister Conrad K Sangma’s briefing on the proposed visit to Delhi for taking up the issue relating to the resolutions for implementation of the inner line permit (ILP) and inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
“We will wait for the chief minister to brief us and we would definitely like to see that these matters do not keep hanging fire and that the public should not have the impression that we put them on cold storage,” the Minister said.
She further added, Public should know there are certain matters because of the federal structure of the country it is necessary to conform to certain requirements and procedures.
Lyngdoh said, “ILP is something which we have discussed again and again. There are legislative actions taken, there are also governmental actions also taken. The MRSSA was also passed. It was also amended and it was also accepted. I think we need to have these parallel movements. Let us not be too rigid,” adding “If ILP is something which is said to get done then I don’t think there is an alternative because it is a government of India matter you have to get consent from the government of India and they are ones who are in authority to actually serve the agreement or the nod for the ILP to be implemented in the state of Meghalaya.”
On language issues, the minister said that they have been told that there are few steps that the government needs to take and those steps are being taken.
She said, “You need to ensure that you qualify on so many accounts and I think it is an indigenous language. Even CM is already propagating that certain examinations should also start being done in our local languages.”