Shillong, Nov 18: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said the government want to see that Khasi Hills gets on the railway map of India with atleast the goods train coming till Byrnihat in Ri-Bhoi district which will bring in immense economical benefits to the people. For this purpose, he said consultations will be held with the various stakeholders soon to build consensus on this.

“We will be engaging with the concerned stakeholders and atleast find some way forward in at least trying to get a goods train if not a passenger train immediately,” Sangma told reporters on Wednesday.

“(So we want to see if there) can there be an adjustment, can there be understanding and agreement that we have atleast the goods train coming in (by engaging with the concerned stakeholders),” he added.

Citing the reasons for this, the Chief Minister said the state had witnessed during the COVID period that thousands of trucks coming in and there was a huge cost factor.

“If we have the railways then we would have been able to get the goods at a much more economical rate and at the same time we would not have the exposure to truck drivers coming in and going out – so all these factors are advantages,” he stated.

When asked about the anti-railway groups’ protest against the project since Meghalaya does not have any mechanism to check influx, Sangma however said the government is talking about goods trains and not the passenger train.

“Obviously goods train means goods and products which will be for the people and that will help the people in general so there is no question of influx when it comes to goods train.”

“So can we have a meeting point where we can say at least the benefit of the goods can come to the common man and the citizens of the state, so maybe we could move in that while we discuss how we can check the infiltration part or the concerns of the different organizations,” he said.

He also stated that the railway line issue is slightly more complicated because it is linked with so many other factors with the different organizations demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP).

“Our Government of India is still holding on to it (ILP resolution passed by the state Assembly in 2019) and still has not given us a clear reply on this so discussion mode is going on,” he informed.

Sangma further maintained that his government has been trying to address all issues that have been legacy issues for many years.

“Whether it is the Sweepers’ Colony issue, whether it is the issue of ILP, whether it is the issue of our eighth schedule, whether it is the issue of our border, there has been a very strong and committed effort from the state government to find some kind of solutions to all these things,” he added.

Also citing the example of Mendipathar,  he said, “In Mendipathar, we have already started the facilitation centre there where if you go and see there is some kind of checking of individuals coming, so all those things are steps that are confidence building measures.”

“We are hopeful that we will be able to move this forward also as I said it is a complex issue but we are trying our best as I said we cannot resolve everything but I hope will be able to find some way forward especially when it comes to the goods train,” he added.

On the reason why Garo people have welcomed the goods train wholeheartedly unlike in the Khasi Hills region, the chief minister said that from the government’s point of view it wanted that the goods train should be on both sides.

He also claimed that the economy of Mendipathar has really gone up after the goods train has arrived there.

“Today people are selling their vegetables to Guwahati. People who are selling vegetables at Rs 100 – Rs 200 or Rs 300 a day are today getting Rs 2000 or Rs 3000, the different products that are coming in which used to be costing much higher in Mendipathar earlier, today are getting products that are cheaper in Mendipathar compared to Dudnoi and Krisnoi which means there is a huge economic advantage to them.”

Sangma said this is clearly economic advantage and people of Garo Hills have felt that this economic advantage.

“Mendi is a very good example of that people have benefited so I hope this example can be replicated in Byrnihat where we can take advantage of the railway in terms of economic benefits for the people and yet not go into the negative or the issues that are concerning the people of illegal immigration where we don’t have passengers train as of now and we start with the goods train,” he said.

The chief minister also assured that only when the people feel comfortable and are somewhere in the meeting point will the government take the aspect of the passenger train into consideration.