New Delhi, Dec 18: Rajya Sabha MP from Meghalaya Dr. Wanweiroy Kharlukhi on Thursday urged the Centre to speed up the process of allowing scientific coal mining in the State, saying the long ban has badly affected livelihoods and led to a rise in drug smuggling in former coal-mining areas.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the National People’s Party (NPP) MP said the National Green Tribunal’s ban on coal mining, imposed in 2014, has caused serious hardship to thousands of families who depended on the sector.
“Coal supports the livelihood of thousands of families in the State. The right to earn is a basic right of every citizen, and my people have been deprived of that right,” Dr. Kharlukhi said.
He said the ban also hit autonomous district councils in Meghalaya, which depended heavily on revenue from coal. “For several months, staff of the district councils had to work without salaries,” he said, while supporting demands by MPs from Assam for changes to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to strengthen district councils in the Northeast.
The MP said that before the ban, the State government collected more than ₹600 crore every year through coal cess, which was mainly used to support education. “After the ban, the collection fell to zero. As a result, for the first four to five years after 2014, teachers had to protest on the streets for their salaries,” he said.
While thanking the Centre for its decision to allow coal mining in Meghalaya through scientific methods, Dr. Kharlukhi expressed concern over a new problem emerging in the State.
“Recently, drug smuggling has increased, with several arrests made by law enforcement agencies, especially in coal block areas,” he said, urging the government to take urgent steps to ensure that Meghalaya does not become a route for drug trafficking in the region.
