Shillong, May 5: East Jaintia National Council ( EJNC) has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to review the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of March 5, 2021 for granting prospecting licenses as it mentions that minimum requirement of land for coal mining is 100 hectares.
In the memorandum, EJNC president Sambormi Lyngdoh said that the requirement of 100 hectares will affect the poor miners who do not have that much land.
Another suggestion for review is regarding the agreement between the land owner and the applicant.
According to EJNC leadership, the agreement between the land owner and the applicant needs review as the applicants can be non- tribals, and big companies which will go against the law of the land.
The five pressure groups– HYC, EJNC, HANM, JSM and CORP had in November last year submitted a similar memorandum to Conrad and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong.
The pressure groups had mentioned that the SOPs for granting prospecting licenses and mining lease for coal mining have been framed to suit the interest of the “high level”.
According to them, the SOPs will violate the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act and legalise benami transactions with non-tribals through coal business.
