Shillong, July 24:

Brief

– The Cabinet delegation was led by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma

– Union Home Minister Amit Shah assures to look into demand of ILP in Meghalaya

– First time that a union government has allowed the demand for ILP to be taken to national level

Full Report

Meghalaya C&RD Minister and People’s Democratic Front (PDF) leader Hamletson Dohling on Saturday night informed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured a delegation of the state Cabinet led by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma that the Centre would examine the demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in Meghalaya.

Talking to reporters after meeting the Union Home Minister, which lasted about 15-20 minutes, Dohling said he himself had raised the issue and that the Minister had assured to look into the demand for ILP and let the State know about the Centre’s opinion.

“He (Shah) gave a patient hearing when I raised this issue. He said that he would look into it and that he will let us know (about the decision of the Centre),” Dohling said.

The PDF leader also clarified that it was not a question of being satisfied or not with the meeting or the response of the Union Minister as it is the first time that they have been allowed to raise the issue of ILP with the Government of India.

“I am satisfied that I was given a chance to raise this issue with the Government of India. We hope the government of India will respond to the demand for the interest of the state of Meghalaya,” he said.

Stating that the ILP demand has been a long pending aspiration of the tribal people, the minister said that he had also informed the Union Home Minister that none of the union governments in the past had given us the chance to raise the issue up to the national level.

He added that they have expressed the need to implement ILP and are hopeful that the Union Home Minister will respond positively.