Meghalaya Assembly witnesses heated exchange of words over ILP, House adjourned briefly

The third day of the Meghalaya budget session on Wednesday was marked by heated exchanges as the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) and opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) members were vociferous regarding the demand for implementation of Inner Line Permit regime in the 6th scheduled State.
Speaker Thomas Sangma adjourned the House for ten minutes when the exchange of argument grew sharper between Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and opposition VPP Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit on the issue. Basaiawmoit accused the government of insincerity in its approach to implement the British-era ILP regulation to curb infiltration of illegal migrants.
“I would like a sincere reply from the government whether the government is playing with the sentiment of the people as far as ILP is concerned,” Basaiawmoit asked, questioning the government’s commitment in protecting the interest of the indigenous people of the State.
The permit regulation, clamped in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, is issued under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, by the state governments and is an official travel document issued by the Indian government to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected/restricted area for a limited period.
The ILP, a British era regulation designed to preserve ethnicity and culture of the northeastern tribals, required all Indian citizens not usually residents of the area, to secure a special permit for entering the border states and regions of northeast. However, the Chief Minister did not back down and countered the VPP’s legislator accusation, informing the House that he had written to and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home
Minister Amit Shah repeatedly on ILP.
“How many times has the MLA (Basaiawmoit) written to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister? He has not met the Union Home Minister on ILP. Giving speeches is easy, but action is what matters,” Sangma asked. Supporting the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Parliamentary Affairs Prestone Tynsong stood to firmly counter the allegation, stating, “If you (Basaiawmoit) are serious, you should go to Delhi and stop the drama.”
After the House resumed, the Speaker appealed for restraint and reminded members that the Assembly is a place where debates, discussions, questions and answers participate in a “civilized manner”.
Continuing with his reply on the issue, the Chief Minister informed the House that his government is still pursuing the ILP while exploring additional safeguards under the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, as opposition VPP members accused the government of dragging its feet.
Asking Basaiawmoit to pursue along with the State government in Delhi on the implementation of ILP, the Chief Minister assured the House that the government have not stopped pursuing the ILP.
“We have not stopped pursuing ILP. We will continue to pursue the ILP as well as continue to look at other mechanisms through which we are able to ensure that we are able to curb illegal immigration,” Sangma stated.
Countering the Chief Minister’s question on VPP legislator Basaiawmoit’s failure to take up with the central government, Basaiawmoit said, “If the Chief Minister alleges me, I need to ask how many times the government has taken us into consideration so that we together move to Delhi. Our (VPP Shillong) MP had raised this issue.”
Reiterating his stance that the government was not serious on ILP, Basaiawmoit questioned the state government for not challenging the Presidential Order on Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act in 2019.
“Has the government written to the central government challenging this Presidential Order,” the VPP legislator asked, pointing out the government’s failure to write to the central government made them believe that the state government was “not serious” on the implementation of ILP in the State.
He further argued that pursuing an ILP-like provision was “a vague negotiation” that only gives the Centre an option.
However, Basaiawmoit said that he would jointly pursue with the state government if the Chief Minister invites so.
To this the Chief Minister said, “Our seriousness is in the action. He is free to go and meet the Union Home Minister. Giving a speech and a lecture is great… We don’t talk much but we act, we believe in acting in action, we believe in doing the work and therefore we are doing it.”
Sangma added: “We are very happy that the opposition will work with us. You pursue at your level. We are open to this idea, but don’t use this House to say this government is not serious. There is nothing wrong to explore other possibilities. Our purpose is to find ways and means to check this issue, and we will continue to pursue ILP.”
Earlier, replying to a principal question, the Chief Minister told the House that the State government is in talks with the central to bring Meghalaya under the purview of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, while continuing to pursue the demand for ILP.