SHILLONG, AUG 26: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday held talks with the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) on its five-point charter and announced that all works of Shree Cement will remain on status quo till a probe is completed.
The meeting was attended by both Deputy Chief Ministers, senior officials and KSU top leadership.
Sangma said KSU had demanded scrapping of the public hearing for Shree Cement, alleging people were prevented from attending and environmental and stakeholder concerns were ignored.
He said the government views Shree Cement — the country’s second largest cement producer — as a reputed investment needed for growth and that the hearing was held as per law, but agreed to a fact-finding committee headed by a senior official independent of the district administration to examine the complaints.
On MRSSA 2016, Sangma said tenant registration has increased but providing computers and operators to nearly 6,500-7,000 villages and localities is a huge task. The government is developing a mobile app for face scan and document upload to a central database to speed up registration and is seeking shared responsibility with headmen.
Clarifying the Umling controversy, he said the upcoming structure was always meant to house a facilitation centre.
“There was miscommunication where the word ‘food court’ was used. Yes, there will be a food court but the first part is going to be a facilitation centre,” he said.
The 1,000 sq ft centre, expandable to 3,000 sq ft, will see a joint inspection and should be operational before Christmas, while land for Ratacherra and Athiabari centres is yet to be acquired.
On the Migrant Workers Act, 2020, he said amendments now clarify who can inspect and allow police verification either from the SP of the native district or through the CCTNS network, with rollout after a month-long training.
On NEIGRIHMS recruitment, Sangma said the institute is independent of the state but he has taken up the matter with the Union Health Minister and will facilitate a KSU meeting with him, besides offering logistical support for exams.
On recruitment reforms, he said interviews for Group-D are already abolished and for non-technical Group-C posts will be abolished from January 2027.
SOPs for DSCs are cleared and 19 of 23 MPSC reforms have been implemented.
The demand to restrict MPSC jobs to state residents like in Assam will be examined next week by Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong for legal sustainability, he added.
