Itanagar, Oct 19: Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) Chief Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday stated that many of the problems in the North East are economy based and that is where the issue of illegal immigration comes in. But the problem is people are stuck in their position instead of exploring possibilities and solutions.

“Although we have issues that we are facing for many years, but mostly our issues, atleast 50% of them, are economy related… My point is there are multiple ways to do it… our problem is that we don’t explore it and we are stuck in our positions… that’s why we have economic situation here wherein many illegal immigrants come here for work… because they have had a tough lifestyle… and it happens in every society,” he said while speaking at the Regional Conclave on the theme “Regional Aspiration, National Outlook” organised by the Arunachal unit of NPP on Tuesday at Itanagar.

Citing an example, he said there are atleast one lakh Garos settled in Bangladesh but they are doing very well because of the tough life they have there and their survival instinct has pushed them to excel in various fields.

“You will be surprised to know that maximum doctors, engineers, officers in Bangladesh are Garos including one lady officer who topped Bangladesh Civil Services. This is because the Garos living in Bangladesh have to stay with lot of difficulty. And when a community stays in a difficult situation or pressure situation, you automatically start working in a much more aggressive manner for your survival… you become a survivor and a survivor instinct comes in. So, similarly, maybe someone coming from outside has more survival instinct…” he said.
He added that the people in North East are blessed with beautiful land, people and soil so they do just enough that is sufficient for them although they can do more but they won’t because they are blessed with abundance by nature.