BJP resolves to demand introduction of goods train in Shillong, mining policy

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 5, 2020

The BJP has resolved to pressurize the state government for introduction of goods trains to Shillong.

This one among the points in the political resolution passed by the BJP in its state executive meeting held under the chairmanship of its president Ernest Mawrie on Saturday.

The meeting was inaugurated by the BJP national general secretary, Ram Madhav through video conferencing.

The resolution said the government of India has envisioned connecting all state capitals of the north-east with the railway.

“In this, and keeping in mind the need to protect the local cultures and tribal way of life, we will pressurize the state government to bring only goods trains’ right upto to Shillong. This is automatically assured the people that there will be no illegal immigration into the state,” it said.

The BJP also proposed the privatization and out-sourcing of all non-performing public sector enterprises.

It said this will not only cut the losses of the state government, but also bring more efficient services to the public and generate revenue for the government by way of taxation, etc.

Realizing that a lot of the state economy was dependent on mining related activities, the party said that it will pressurize the government to come up with a holistic mining policy that will lay down scientific and environmental friendly means of mining for the people.

This will open up the economy and uplift the standard of living of the people of the state.

The party reminded that the economy of the state has suffered as set-back due to the environmental impact caused by unscientific methods that were adopted in the past and as a result, a blanket ban on mining has been imposed by the NGT.

On the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the state economy, the BJP has decided to insist that the state government should come out with a policy to incentivize and promote industries and multi-national companies that enable job creation within the state to invest here.

“We will also advise the state government to use the GST data by tracing HSN codes, and encourage the production of such goods within the state that are presently imported from the rest of the country. Similarly, we will also advise the government to identify the materials that are exported from the state in raw form and encourage the setting up of value addition activities here. This will create employment opportunities for the local youth as well as generate revenue for the state,” it said.

Stating that the tourism potential of Meghalaya is such a driving force such that other activities may even take a back seat, the party said in line with this, we will ask the State Government to promote tourism by making it accessible for all kinds of travellers, through development of tourist circuits, and by promoting Meghalaya in the rest of the country through advertisement.

Meanwhile, the BJP has threatened that if required, it will take to the streets to insist on policies that benefit the local people of the state.