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Meghalaya House voices concern over immigration

By Staff correspondent

SHILLONG, Sept 10 - Legislators cutting across party lines today expressed concern in the Meghalaya Assembly over possibility of people left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in Assam entering the State, and sought to know from the Government what steps it was taking to check such possible influx.

�It has serious and dangerous implications for our State,� Mayralbron Syiem of the Opposition Congress said while moving a short discussion on the issue. He said 19 lakh people in Assam were excluded from the final NRC and many of them would possibly try to sneak into the State.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma rued that genuine citizens had been excluded from the final NRC. �It is the saddest thing,� Sangma said referring to reports that women married in Assam had been excluded from the citizen register.

Phulbari MLA SG Esmatur Mominin of the ruling National People�s Party said the objective of the NRC exercise in Assam was to target a particular community and dub them as Bangladeshis.

In his reply, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed the House that appropriate legislative measures and steps are being taken to ensure that those left out of the NRC in Assam cannot infiltrate into the State. Sangma said as part of the effort to check such influx, check points have been asked to be extra vigilant. An inspector general has been deputed as a nodal officer to oversee the entire process of people getting into the State on a daily basis.

The official is coordinating with SPs and collecting data of people entering through the check gates on a daily basis. He is also responsible for liaisoning with officials from Assam, Sangma added.

The Chief Minister further said that 223 �outsiders� were detected at different check gates in the State and they were pushed back to Assam as they did not possess valid documents.

All the six major check gates are being manned constantly and apart from this, field staff in 22 other entry points have been asked to be extra vigilant.

Sangma pointed out that the Meghalaya Resident Safety and Security Act has been implemented in the State, but admitted that the Act can be further strengthened.

The Chief Minister said discussions have been held with his Assam counterpart regarding genuine citizens from Meghalaya being left out of the NRC.

The Chief Minister said that the matter is being examined, but as it is a complicated process it may take some time for the issue to be resolved.

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