Paul on Ind. policy

SHILLONG, TILAK 12: UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh has demanded that the new industrial and investment policy of the Meghalaya government should address the twin concerns of power consumption and local employment.

Moving a call attention motion in the Assembly on Friday, Lyngdoh said the new policy should discourage the setting of industrial units which are power-intensive and put in place a regulatory body to ensure employment to locals in the industrial units.

“All along the setting up of power-intensive industries has compounded to problem of power deficit… This has a negative impact on the power scenario which was a surplus power state during the late 1980s,” he said, “The new policy should also insist that whenever there is excess of power requirements by these (new) industries, government should ask them to meet the demand on their own.”

The UDP leader blamed the state government for the abysmal rate of local employment in the newly established industrial units even though the 1997 industrial policy clear said that 60 per cent of local people should be engaged in various categories of jobs. The 12 cement plants in the state that was established since then, he said, have been able to provide employment to a meagre 1200 local youths which was “very unsatisfactory”.

In this context, Lyngdoh favoured the setting up of a strong regulatory body to ensure that the industries provide the required employment opportunity to the local indigenous people besides addressing other issues, including large-scale devastation of the ecological environment of the state.

The UDp leader said even though the new policy attempts to plug the apparent loopholes in the old policy, it has not been able to do so. He further questioned the government’s intention in taking back the excess lands which were leased out to these units.

Chief minister Mukul Sangma in his reply said that the amendment to the Meghalaya Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy – 2012 is not required as government has taken necessary precautionary measures to protect the alienation of tribal land by not allowing outright transfer by way of sale to non-tribal entities.“The new policy has done away with outright sale to non-tribal entities as was available under the State Industrial Policy 1997,” he said.

Pointing out the clause J (a) of the new policy clearly states that transfer or mortgaging of land to non-tribal enterprises shall be strictly regulated as per the actual requirement to protect land alienation, he said, industrial zones would be set up in all districts and land allotted on lease basis for all round development of the state.

The chief minister said the new policy seeks to promote investment not only in the industrial sectors, but also in other potential sectors like tourism, entertainment, health, agro and horticulture, education and IT. All these sectors, he said, can only take off if land is made available. (By Our Reporter)