Meghalaya government is closely monitoring the situation in Manipur and making arrangements to ensure that students from Meghalaya are safely evacuated from the ethnic riot hit state. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday calls for urgent meeting to ensure safety of students from Meghalaya following reports of building unrest in Manipur.
After the meeting, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed, “We are monitoring the situation closely. We are in touch with the students of the different institutes. We are also making arrangements as a state government to try and evacuate our students at the earliest from there so that they can come back safely. “
Stating that the arrangements are made in terms of different transportations, especially air transportation so that the students can be brought safely and quickly, Sangma said “We are also working on creating a permanent number, call centre, or a helpline number where the parents and the students can call on a 24-hour basis if they require any help or if any urgent matter is there, and I would like to urge the students studying in Manipur.”
He informed that almost 200 students from Meghalaya are studying in Manipur, specifically in Imphal.
He urged the students from Meghalaya studying in Manipur and the parents of the students to remain calm, and assured that the government is doing it’s all to bring the students back safely.
“We are monitoring the situation continuously. We are in touch with the Manipur government continuously and we are making and taking all steps possible to immediately ensure that we are able to as quickly as possible evacuate and bring our students to back to Meghalaya,” he said.
Meanwhile, MDA government spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh said the Manipur government has assured safety of Meghalayans residing in the state.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Lyngdoh said, “In view the ethnic conflict that is currently going on in Manipur, the CM today spoke to his counterpart chief minister of Manipur and he was given a very firm assurance that the safety of Meghalayans is a priority and there is no cause for worry where students or professionals or travellers from Meghalaya to Manipur is concerned.”
“We hope it will not reach to such a point, of course the safety of our citizens is major concern but we hope things do not escalate beyond the point where they would be required to be moved back and forth,” he said.