SHILLONG: The Jaintia Students Union (JSU) has called on newly appointed Meghalaya Director General of Police (DGP) Idashisha Nongrang to stregthen policing efforts in the Jaintia Hills districts.
On Monday, a JSU delegation met with DGP Nongrang, presenting a memorandum detailing various suggestions aimed at improving the welfare of the districts in the region and its residents.
A primary concern highlighted by the JSU is the need to bolster Border Police Outposts.
The union highlighted the region’s vulnerability due to ongoing interstate border conflicts with Assam, resulting in incidents of harassment and violence against Jaintia Hills residents by Assam inhabitants.
“There have been incidents of harassment and killings of our people by residents from Assam living along the Jaintia Hills border,” the memorandum stated.
The JSU also urged the DGP to follow through on the previous government’s plans to establish border outposts in seven sensitive locations, including Mukroh, Khanduli and Langpih villages.
“We suggest that your office ensures the improvement of infrastructure at these outposts, especially at Mukroh and Khanduli Village. The current conditions are inadequate, with some outposts covered only with tin sheets, putting the lives of the police security guards at risk and even the site where the outpost is located is not a permanent land,” the JSU noted.
Mukroh and Khanduli villages have been flashpoints for clashes between Meghalaya and Assam residents, related to the decades-long border dispute that’s nearing resolution.
Notably, in November 2022, six individuals, including five from Meghalaya and an Assam Forest guard, died in a firing incident in Mukroh.
The JSU also requested the DGP to strengthen the Anti-Narcotics Task Force in the region, citing it as a “major entry point for drugs into the state”.
Furthermore, they called for measures to assist Jaintia youth aspiring to join the police force, suggesting that both physical and written exams be conducted locally in Jaintia Hills to ease travel burdens and expenses.
The establishment of a dedicated Women Helpline (WHL), a 24-hour confidential service for supporting women and child survivors of violence, was another key suggestion of the students’ body.
Addressing rampant extortion activities, the JSU highlighted the issue of illegal toll gates impacting local farmers and the transport sector.
They reported that numerous unauthorised toll gates have been set up, with individuals extorting money from trucks transporting various local products, including agricultural items such as broomsticks, boulder stones, dry betel nut, and betel leaves.
