SHILLONG, AUG 10: The state government on Saturday granted 15 days time to the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) to decide on the proposal for relocation of 342 families from Them Iew Mawlong.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the deputy chief minister incharge home Prestone Tynsong.
With this, the state government is moving closer to finalizing negotiations with the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) regarding their relocation, with hopes of sealing the deal this August.
Addressing media persons, deputy chief minister incharge urban affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar said that the meeting was very positive and fruitful.
“We have agreed to give them 15 days time to make a final decision and communicate the same to the state government,” Dhar said.
Dhar informed that the HPC has sought 15 days’ time as they wanted to discuss a few issues and to take everyone on board. “They will accordingly communicate to the government whether it is a positive or negative decision but we are hopeful that it should be a positive decision. We want them to say yes or no on the (proposal of relocation),” he said.
The deputy chief minister said that the delegation were quite happy with the government’s blueprint.
Asked, Dhar said, “Almost all issues have been discussed and are in the right direction. However, the HPC needs to discuss with their higher organization so we have given them 15 days’ time. No more meetings beyond 15 days. We will finalise everything within 15 days.”
The deputy chief minister also assured that the government will not entertain organizations from outside the state. “The discussion is purely between the government and the HPC, there will be no listening to outsiders…” he stated.
Earlier, For the Harijan Panchayat Committee, Sardar Jagdeep Singh Kahlon, General Secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and a representative of the HPC, confirmed that the main focus of the meeting was the relocation, which has been largely agreed upon. However, he noted that certain aspects still need to be finalized. The HPC plans to discuss these matters within their community before coming to a decision.
Sardar Kahlon informed the main relocation was discussed in the meeting which more or less agreed but there are certain things which need to be agreed.
“We had a long discussion on the relocation issue of Punjabi lane. Today again, we had a fruitful meeting and still certain issues are yet to be addressed which for that we sought 15 days time. After 15 days, we will convey the final decision and then only things will be finalised,” Sardar Jagdeep Singh Kahlon added.