[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-13

[Taha Mehmood]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031212/asp/frontpage/story_2671300.asp

The Telegraph, Calcutta

Friday, December 12, 2003
Meghalaya mulls pass for 'outsiders'
RAJEEV BHATTACHARYYA

New Delhi, Dec. 11: Meghalaya is planning to make work permits mandatory for
"outsiders" employed in the state in a bid to prevent them from settling
there.

Chief minister D.D. Lapang, who is in the capital, said he had spoken to
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L.K. Advani about the
need to "keep track of outsiders employed in the hill state" and received a
positive response. "We are hopeful of our demand being met. Ours is a border
state and measures should be taken to prevent ethnic disturbances," he said.

The chief minister, however, said the proposed scheme would apply only to
Indian citizens. "We cannot afford to be sympathetic to foreign citizens. A
drive is on to detect and deport them," Lapang added.

According to official records, 10,571 Bangladeshi migrants were deported
from Meghalaya in the past three years. Though the state has long been
making noises about the influx of people from different parts of the
country, this is the first time that it is lobbying with Delhi for the
introduction of a work-permit system.

Sources said the move could prompt the other states of the Northeast to
follow suit. Assam, which witnessed a backlash against Biharis recently, is
leading the campaign for reservation of railway and central government jobs
in the region for local candidates.

Lapang said Meghalaya should be included in the pilot project of the
multipurpose national identity card scheme. He submitted a memorandum on
this to the deputy Prime Minister, saying the state's proximity to
Bangladesh necessitated such a step.

"It is learnt that the government of India has taken up a pilot project of
the national identity card scheme covering some districts of a few states.
However, Meghalaya, which has 425-km-long border with Bangladesh, has not
been included in the pilot project," the chief minister said.

Hindi-speaking people account for an estimated 10 per cent of Meghalaya's
population of 2.3 million. Most of them are employed as daily wage earners
in Shillong, Tura and in the coal mines of the Jaintia Hills, the West Khasi
Hills and the South Garo Hills.

A report compiled by the Group of Ministers in 2001 suggested that all
citizens be issued identical identity cards and non-citizens with cards of a
different colour. It said the project should be launched first in the border
areas and later extended to other places. The scheme was endorsed at two
conferences of chief ministers.

Lapang said his government would continue to pressure Delhi to implement the
scheme. "We cannot afford to allow outsiders to outnumber the indigenous
population or let a situation arise when we will be totally helpless."

During his meeting with Vajpayee, Lapang stressed the need to complete the
border-fencing project soon and transfer the disputed blocks I and II of
Assam's Karbi Anglong district to his state. A senior official said the
constitutional safeguards for the indigenous people of tribal states such as
Meghalaya were inadequate to stem the influx.

"Migrants cannot purchase land in Meghalaya, but they stay put even without
possessing immovable assets," he pointed out.

Like the other northeastern states, Meghalaya does not have enough skilled
labour of its own.