Tura, April 08: The prominent NGOs from Garo Hills the AYWO has sent a letter to the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mr Conrad K Sangma expressing their resentment on the Cabinet decision to open up weekly market in Garo Hills which people from Assam in the border area will come for marketing.
The letter written by the AYWO to the Chief Minister Mr Conrad K Sangma, stated that on behalf of AYWO and the people of Garo Hills as a whole, and as the responsible Organisation of Meghalaya, would like to express our views and thereby suggest the govt on following points pertaining to the well being of our people and Meghalaya as a whole in view of the ongoing global pandemic.
As many rightly said, Hasty decision makes a unreparable loss to life and property and this is one of the prime reason AYWO feels that the Government of Meghalaya needs to reconsider and review the very fact for reopening of weekly markets after 21 days lockdown as decided by the cabinet yesterday.
The AYWO collectively opined that the state governments’ abrupt move to reopen is not in conformity with the present situation as the neighbouring state of Assam with whom our porous state borders share the most with has a large number of Positive Cases coming up.
Surge of COVID 19 positive cases in the counterpart state is a clear sign and reasons that the State Government has to reconsider the move. As of now by God’s grace, no individual has been tested positive for COVID 19 in Meghalaya and the due credit goes to the frontline warriors of Medical team, Police, District Admimistration, MeECL, volunteers and other departments and donors.
The early jubilation for not detecting a Case may lead to larger repurcusions and lurks a danger to the entire populace.The Nation-Wide Lockdown imposed by our Honourable PM Narendra Modi for 21 days in tandem with the rest of the world to safeguard the citizens of India and to contain the spread of COVID19 before it reach the stage of ‘Community Transmission’.
The said Virus spreads like a wild fire and threatening to wipe out the entire human race. Seriousness and commitment to fight against this Virus is the need of the hour and the recent cabinet decision to open up the weekly market and to resume the construction work is needless and AYWO sees the development as insensitive towards the well being of our people.
Despite Nationwide Lockdown, Assam, our immediate neighbour has been facing the brunt of COVID19. More than 20 people has been contracted the virus and the numbers is rising in a daily basis. Interestingly one person from Salmara Region, adjacent to Phulbari Region of Meghalaya has been tested positive and many is there in Goalpara District too, which is the immediate district after North Garo Hills.
The AYWO wish to place before the Public and the Meghalaya Government as well that majority of small time Vegetable Traders, Dry Fish Suppliers and sellers and random businessman usually comes from neighbouring state of Assam and exposed our Market, thereby a Himalayan Task for the authorities to check the inflow of hordes of petty and small traders from Assam entering from multiple entrances.
As a matter of Facts, majority of Vegetables comes from Mankachar and Singgimari and Krishnai of Goalpara District and the Supply of Dry Fish comes from Jagi Road, which is also a hotbed of COVID19 in the state of Assam. Therefore, AYWO feels that the opening up of Weekly markets, without placing any mechanism to check the antecedents of every traders and to allow the Outsiders’ to enter Meghalaya without Medical check up will ruin all our efforts by staying indoors.
It is apparent that while reopening of weekly markets in Garo Hills, people from both sides of neighbouring states will not be able to maintain social distancing, esspecially in those interstate bordering weekly markets of Plain belt areas and thereby posing a greater threats to the safety and health of indigenous people.
The AYWO also believed that since Meghalaya state is currently in shortage of manpower, it will be difficult to control such a large populace in and around the weekly markets of the plain belt regions and to checked every traders from Outside Meghalaya, which will posed potential threats to the general masses and will presumably cause difficulties in containing COVID-19 pandemic.
Thus, AYWO will not allow any Outside traders’ to operate their business without any clearance from concerned authorities of having checked. But at the same time we urged the Concerned authorites to promote local veggies, in local markets even though the production is less. We welcome the opening up of Weekly markets involving only LOCAL TRADERS’.
By doing so, AYWO feels that they can protect our region from deadly virus and at the same time, will slowly but surely not remain dependent solely on the Veggies from Assam which is allegedly non organic.
With regards to the resuming of construction Works, AYWO opine that the responsible for checking the Labourers’ from Outsiders’ will be the responsibility of each contractors/firms etc. AYWO will conduct random and frequent visit to the construction sites for making sure that the workers’ from Outsiders’ is properly checked for the Virus and to safeguard our breathen, AYWO Volunteers’ will sacrifice ourselves and our present for better future.
It is also worth mentioning that majority of outside traders did not possess any TNT and they randomly comes to our place and do brisk business taking advantage of ‘UNMOVED’ Authorities. Time and again, AYWO and many other Organisations’ raised a pertinent question of this phenomena and most of the times, our appeal to check the illegal Non Tribal Traders’ lands on a deaf Ears.
They the Non Tribals are mandated to obtain TNT from GHADC for doing any business in Scheduled areas, and the same goes to the Outside Labourers’ who comes in bulk to engage in construction works in the entire stretch of GH under Inter State Migrant Workmen Permit(IMSWP)1987.
Thus, it is logical to check them for the license and the medical clearance as well. If we don’t filter the inflow of outsiders’, then we fear that our people will be at stake and AYWO will never allow our people to be taken for granted.
The AYWO urged the authorities to look into the points that we stated. AYWO knows how to protect our people and, if needed be, will take our own course of action to protect our breathen.
