Assam- Meghalaya issues
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Contents |
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2021
Assam cattle Act
Manosh Das, Sep 15, 2021: The Times of India
Meghalaya legislators voiced their concern in the assembly over the Assam Preservation of Cattle Act, which has put restrictions on the movement of cattle to the state, where beef is staple diet and a cheap source of protein.
However, chief minister Conrad K Sangma told the House that the Meghalaya government had taken up the matter relating to transport of cattle to the state through Assam and that his counterpart has assured that all documents required by traders would be from Meghalaya.
Sangma said during his recent meeting with Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the interstate boundary issue, the matter relating to transport of cattle had also come up and that there was “in principle agreement that all papers will be done from the Meghalaya side, but there is a bit of nonclarity”, which, he said was being be sorted out.
The Assam government has been requested to ensure hassle-free passage for cattle to Meghalaya, he said, adding that the department of animal husbandry and veterinary is in the process of creating an administrative system to ensure legitimate import of cattle from outside the state and also check smuggling.
2022
2022: Assam, Meghalaya sign pact to end 50-year dispute
March 30, 2022: The Times of India
New Delhi/Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed an agreement in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, settling six of the 12 areas of differences in the 50-year-old inter-state boundary dispute.
Shah described the accord that saw Assam making concessions it had refused so far as “another milestone in the fulfilment of PM Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous northeast”. He praised Assam’s “large heartedness” for facilitating the pact.
According to the settlement formula, both states will divide the disputed area of about 36 sq km, covering the six points of differences, in almost equal parts between them.
People will get to pick state of choice
Prabin Kalita, March 30, 2022: The Times of India
Guwahati:The partial resolution of the five-decade-old Assam-Meghalaya border dispute on Tuesday was the culmination of a unique exercise that gave people living in the six disputed areas with dual voter cards the freedom to choose which state they wanted to be part of. Although Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, the demarcation of the boundary between the neighbours has remained vague all these years, perpetuating the tussle for territory, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said after inking the agreement with his counterpart Conrad Sangma. Many voters in Boko assembly constituency of Assam are also registered as voters in Meghalaya’s Rambrai Jyrngam assembly constituency. Similarly, a large chunk of voters in Jirang constituency of Meghalaya are also voters in Assam’s Palasbari and West Guwahati assembly seats. As the border dispute dragged on, both states built infrastructure on the disputed land, benefiting people living there not just in terms of voting rights but also welfare schemes offered by either state.
The two state governments have long been asking these people to pick the state of their choice and surrender one voter card, albeit without success. A key feature of the agreement to end the dispute at Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Baklapara, Khanapara (Pilingkata) and Ratacherra, which straddle Cachar, Kamrup and Kamrup Metropolitan districts of Assam, and the corresponding Meghalaya districts of West Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills, is to have the residents of these areas choose one of either state.
“The will of the people was given priority, besides historical facts and maps,” Sangma said.
His Assam counterpart said the unclear demarcation of the boundary meant that asking the people where they wanted to be was the only way out. He said the agreement was finalised “with the spirit of accommodation”.
“There is now hope that we can resolve border disputes and live together. The signing of the agreement will send a strong message to our other neighbours that border disputes can be resolved,” Sarma said.
