Indo-Bangla border
Rich region; poor people
Source: The Sangai Express

Shella(Indo-Bangla border), September 25: Although the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya along the Indo-Bangladesh border has rich limestone deposit, the living standard of the people in the area is at its lowest ebb.

In such a situation, it is very likely that instead of reaping the benefits of the proposed Look East Policy of the Government of India, the status of the people may only be reduced to mere porters.

A team of journalists from different parts of North East States which had undertaken a study tour organised by the Guwahati office of the Panos South Asia under the theme of 'Lived realities at border' recently in the border town of Shella, which falls under the Shella-Bholagang Assembly Constituency of Deputy Speaker of Meghalaya Don Kurpark, came across the people of the limestone rich deposit area working as labourers in the limestone quarries, in their own area, and doing odd jobs to eke out their living.

A 14 yr boy puffs away at the Indo-Bangla border

Coming from a poor farming family, 14-year old Bomit gave up his study after class II and he has been doing odd jobs to supplement the income of the family.

Quite fluent in Hindi and puffing a cigarette like an adult, he also guided the journalist team in touring the border area.

The story of Bomit is not an isolated case.

There are numerous others like him who have been exposed to the harsh realities of life in the border area.

Inspite of the existence of two schools in the border town, the number of school dropouts has been on the rise due to poverty.

To the envy of the neighbouring country, the border area of Meghalaya has a rich limestone deposit of 5000 million tonne.

But the people of the area, young and old alike, are working in the limestone quarries as labourers.

After extracting the mineral deposit they sell the same to the rich businessmen who own the factories of manufacturing lime powder.

For their hard labour of extracting the limestone, the villagers are paid only a meagre amount of Rs 80 as wage per day.

Interacting with the touring journalists, Prof (Dr) Graham Nongkryugrih of Department of Sociology, North Eastern Hills University informed that the owners of the land on which the villagers have settled and the limestone factories set up are either from Shillong or Guwahati.

Senior Journalist of Meghalaya, Braveley said that the villagers have started asking the Government to hand over their lands and do not want the so-called welfare schemes and developmental programmes of the Government.

Unfortunately, the reports and other relevant findings of the Land Commission have only remained on paper.

According to Brostar Well Ora, the village secretary of Shella, which is located 48 kms from Cherapunjee, there are two high schools in his village.

Earlier students who went for study outside the village did not return home, but some of them have started coming back over the past few years.

Even after 60 years of Independence of India from British rule, the bridge over Shella river which can connect the border villages along the Indo-Bangladesh boundary has not yet been constructed by the Government.

The people are depending on ferryboats to cross the river.

Interestingly, the condition of all the roads in the border area of Meghalaya is far more enviable than the condition of the road of Thangal Bazar in the heart of Imphal city.