Meghalaya HC directs Harijan Panchayat Committee to respond to government's relocation plan in a month

Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court on October 21 directed the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) to respond to the proposal of the state government's decision to relocate 342 residents of Punjabi Lane in Shillong within a month.

While hearing the matter, the Division Bench of the high court said the state has submitted a proposal, along with the blueprint for the reallocation and the same has been forwarded to the HPC.

“Since the respondent committee says that it is assessing the proposal, the respondents are requested to respond to the proposal within the next four weeks. Let the matter appear two months hence,” the bench said.

The next hearing has been scheduled on February 16.

The state government on September 29 presented the blueprint to the HPC during a meeting, indicating that multi-story flats will be constructed at the existing official quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) for the relocation of the 342 families.

Earlier, the state government had rejected a proposal of the HPC, wherein, it was demanded that 200 square meters of land will be provided to each of the 342 families bearing the cost of construction of their homes.

Following the rejection of the said proposal, HPC secretary Gurjit Singh expressed concern.

People from Punjab live in the Punjabi lane, who were reportedly brought to Shillong around 200 years ago by the British.