Shillong, May 8: The Jaintia Hills unit of the Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO) has asked the district council to stop issuing new trading licences to non-tribals.
In a memorandum to Thombor Shiwat, the Chief Executive Member of the Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), CoMSO Jaintia Hills vice-chairman Sambormi Lyngdoh highlighted five critical issues related to the regulation of trade licences, hawkers’ licences, digital mechanisms and Tribal trading provisions in the region.
CoMSO wants an immediate cessation of issuing new trading licences to non-tribals to check the “uncontrolled influx of non-tribal traders”.
It also urged the JHADC to “immediately suspend the issuance of hawker licences until a thorough regulatory framework, involving local traditional authorities and district-level oversight, is created”.
“If the current situation persists without stringent legal and administrative reforms, it poses a significant threat to the socio-cultural, economic, and demographic fabric of our tribal homeland,” said CoMSO in a statement.
Among the other demands are complete digitalisation of TNT licences, shop establishments and hawker licences; and adoption of an official resolution requesting the state government to advocate for amendments to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, ensuring that the definition of Scheduled Tribes accurately reflects the cultural, territorial and genealogical realities of indigenous peoples.
