Shillong,April 8:The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on Friday wanted to know whether the state government has the authority to give 18.46 sq km of land to Assam without getting the consent of the land owners, traditional institutions and the district council.
The HYC asked the government to review the agreement.
Rejecting the MoU on border deal with Assam government, the HYC general secretary, Roykupar Synrem said it will never accept the illegal act of the state government.
The HYC said the government does not own any land in Meghalaya except those it had acquired or donated by the people.
Synrem said as per section 41 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the state government has to get the consent of the land owner and the district council before acquiring land in tribal areas of the state.
He also said the Khasi states had merged with India by signing the Instrument of Accession & Annexed Agreement.
In paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule, protection has been given to tribal lands.
“Now, whether the decision of the Meghalaya government to sign the MoU and agreement is against the spirit of the IOA&AA and Sixth Schedule?” he said.
The HYC also questioned the silence of the MDA partners which include the BJP, UDP, PDF and HSPDP on the matter as they are neither opposing the MoU nor insisting to revisit the agreement.
“The question which arises now is whether the MoU and the agreement have been signed without the consent of the coalition partners of the MDA or is it because these parties have regretted after finding that the MoU is full of flaws or is it their concerns are just an eye wash to fool the people,” he said.
