GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a crucial meeting with the Assam and Meghalaya chief ministers on Tuesday to finalise a draft resolution of the two states towards settling their boundary dispute in six of the 12 areas.
Official sources said senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs would also attend the meeting in New Delhi. In August last year, the two states had mutually agreed to find a solution to the dispute in the six “less complicated” areas in the first phase based on historical facts, ethnicity, administrative convenience, willingness of the people and their overall sense of sentiments and contiguity of the land in disputes.
The disputed areas are Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pillangkata and Ratacherra – falling under West Khasi Hills, East Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi districts of Meghalaya and Cachar, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup districts of Assam.
In due course, the two states constituted three regional committees each. The members of the committees, each headed by a Cabinet minister, visited the disputed areas and held public meetings. After a fair understanding of the problem, they submitted their reports to the respective governments. Meanwhile, the opposition parties in both sides of the border, besides various organisations, are wary of a raw deal. Many in both states feel their state is compromising more than the other.