LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sponsored Protests, Manufactured Crises & the Reality Behind Meghalaya’s Recent Mining Blueprints

Editor,
Recent administrative meetings with the Secretary of the Ministry of Coal to discuss “scientific and safe small-scale mining,” present a polished facade. However, a forensic examination of the government’s own policy documents, specifically the Proposal for Resumption of Scientific Coal Mining (June 2026) and the Project Manual: Scientific Small-Scale Coal Mining Revival Programme (June 2026), reveals a chilling reality. What is being sold as a livelihood revival plan is, in truth, a calculated social engineering trap designed to shift 100 percent of legal, physical, and criminal liabilities onto vulnerable tribal landowners while industrial coal and cement syndicates and corporate barons cash in on dirt-cheap coal.
Basically the government is grooming our tribal coal mine and land owners to steal from their own land and sell to these coal mafia at dirt cheap rates only to be resold at premium price and transported via trains!
According to the government’s own project manual (Part I, pages 131 to 132), compliance with the Coal Mines Regulations, 2017 and the Mines Act, 1952 demands astronomical capital investments that are structurally impossible for any individual tribal family or smallholder. A highwall or thin-seam continuous miner costs between ₹80 crore and ₹120 crore per machine. Qualified mine managers, auxiliary ventilation systems, dewatering pumps, acid mine drainage treatment systems, and electronic weighbridges require recurring expenditures running into lakhs. The manual explicitly concedes that individual compliance is structurally impossible for a 1 to 4 hectare lease holder. Furthermore, with Jaintia Hills coal seams averaging a razor-thin 0 cm to 80 cm, mechanized extraction is completely nonviable for smallholders.
Despite knowing that local families cannot afford these multi-crore costs, the state administration proceeds with this rollout. The operational trap is deliberate. By dangling simplified Tier I leases, the framework provides a cosmetic appearance of indigenous mineral ownership. Lacking capital for heavy machinery, tribal families are economically cornered into extracting raw minerals through hazardous manual methods just to survive. Meanwhile, licensed corporate barons and industrial cement syndicates purchase this raw coal at heavily depressed rates, completely evading capital expenditure, safety costs, and mandatory mine closure escrow funds. When shafts collapse or environmental penalties drop, the legal and criminal liabilities fall entirely on the local tribal leaseholder, while the corporate buyer walks away with absolute site immunity and zero accountability.
This systemic exploitation is further masked by manufactured public agitations. Crucially, these very policy blueprints which were drafted by Shree Cement’s professionals looking to exploit tribal resources, were handed over to the government and then to the Jaintia Hills tribal coal miners before the recent agitations and hunger strikes took place. This timeline exposes a chilling reality: the tribal coal mine owners are either complicit or victims of deep social engineering, staging a state-sponsored protest designed to fool the public, the central government, and the courts. The street theatre and intense lobbying for exemptions under Paragraph 12A(b) of the Sixth Schedule are merely political leverage, weaponized by the state apparatus to feed a false “livelihood crisis” narrative to central authorities.
I urge The Shillong Times to conduct an independent journalistic fact-checking and forensic analysis of these attached policy blueprints to expose how ordinary tribal citizens are being social-engineered to do the lethal dirty work while corporate predators reap the profits. Moreover, The Shillong Times exists to serve the public. If it ignores this crisis and fails to protect the livelihoods of local tribal people, it is failing in its core duty. A newspaper that stays silent in times like this becomes completely useless to the society it was built to serve.
Hoping to see an in-depth exposé in your esteemed daily and a reply of acknowledgement to this letter soon!
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request (A concerned citizen!)
Via email

Chhath Puja for Preserving Faith and Tradition

Editor,
Apropos the thought-provoking article, “Durga Puja: Conquering Enemies Within,” by Salil Gewali, I, as the President of Behari Yuva Manch, wish to express my deep regret at the way our Hindu festivals are gradually losing their true essence and real meanings.
Chhath Puja, which will be observed after November 13 this year, is one of the most sacred festivals of our tradition. It represents faith, devotion, purity, discipline, and cultural heritage. More than just a religious celebration, it connects generations and teaches our children the values of respect and devotion. This puja is performed with deep reverence for the Sun God, and as our scriptures prescribe, no form of entertainment should distract the minds of devotees.
The essence of Chhath Puja lies in fasting, discipline, simplicity, and pure faith. But what we often witness today is contrary to the spirit of the festival. Special orchestra dancers are invited to perform shows featuring noisy filmy dances, which are against the norms set in Hindu scriptures. Such practices overshadow the spiritual spirit of the puja and dilute its traditional character. They also attract unruly crowds, with some indulging in intoxication, which creates disorder and diminishes the sanctity of the occasion. This clearly does not send a healthy message to the younger generation.
Therefore, I sincerely appeal to the Chhath Puja Committees to stop the use of orchestra and noisy entertainment programmes during the sacred festival.
Let us preserve the peace, sanctity, dignity, and cultural values of this holy occasion. Together, we must ensure that distractions do not take away from the devotion and purity that Chhath Puja truly stands for. Devotional kirtan and bhajan may be encouraged.
Yours etc.,
Deepak Kumar Shah,(President of Meghalaya Bihari Yuva Manch)
Shillong-2

End Racism & Racial Abuse of North Easterners

Editor,
The racial abuse and humiliating treatment of a Tripura youth by a social media influencer in Delhi the other day and the murder of Manipuri music teacher Chongtham Vikram Singh in Delhi last month turn the spotlight on prejudice and discrimination towards the people of the North-East on the grounds of narrow- minded racism. Incidence of ill- treatment of people of the North-East has been on the rise lately. A large number of people from the North-East work or study in different parts of the country. They must not be deprived of their right to live a dignified life. Fulfilling the values laid down in the Constitution is possible only by the shared efforts of the people of all the states. Such abhorrent actions strengthen exclusion and subvert the Constitutional value of equality.
The most distinctive feature of Indian culture is unity in diversity and it must be followed by all Indians. The importance of tolerance and coexistence must be inculcated in people right from childhood. The people of the North-East must never be discriminated against. Racism must be uprooted from society. It requires a comprehensive transformation that encompasses all aspects of life.
Yours etc.,
Venu GS,
Via email