SHILLONG: The Meghalaya government has not dropped its plans of initiating railway project in East Jaintia Hills district.

This was informed by Meghalaya deputy chief minister and in-charge of state’s transport department – Sniawbhalang Dhar on Friday (August 18).

He said that the Meghalaya government has been holding discussions with all stakeholders over the matter.

“First, we have to take all stakeholders on board. It takes time,” said Meghalaya deputy chief minister Sniawbhalang Dhar said.

“Not dropped (plans of railway project in East Jaintia Hills). It’s under discussion as of now,” the Meghalaya deputy CM added.

Furthermore, the Meghalaya deputy CM said that the central government is examining implementation of inner line permit (ILP) system in the state, as proposed by the Meghalaya government.

Also read: Meghalaya: State to continue pressuring centre for ILP

“The Centre is examining about ILP,” said Dhar.

He added that the state government has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of implementation of inner line permit (ILP) system in the state.

Earlier, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma had said that the state will continue to put pressure on the Centre to address the issue of illegal immigration into the state.

The Meghalaya CM said that the state government has been “continuously putting pressure on the government to find a way so that we are able to address this issue”.

He said that Meghalaya is concerned about the “overall issue of illegal immigration”, and that it is exploring all possible options, including the ILP and the MRSSA, to address the problem.