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Viewing cable 06CALCUTTA306, NORTHEAST INDIAN STATE MEGHALAYA STRUGGLES WITH SOCIAL AND

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06CALCUTTA306 2006-07-18 09:28 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Kolkata
VZCZCXRO1783
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCI #0306/01 1990928
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 180928Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1037
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0932
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0353
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 0353
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0208
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0137
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0213
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0159
RUEHC/USAID WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 1270
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CALCUTTA 000306 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ECON KWMN EMIN ASEC IN BG
SUBJECT: NORTHEAST INDIAN STATE MEGHALAYA STRUGGLES WITH SOCIAL AND 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  July 7-8, 2006 ConGen visited the Northeast 
state of Meghalaya to meet senior government officials and to 
attend a regional conference on trafficking in persons in the 
capital, Shillong.  Meghalaya's persistent insurgency problem 
appears to have moderated, with the two dominant ethnic 
insurgent groups seeking peace with Government of India (GOI). 
Security concerns, a pattern of `crony capitalism' and relative 
isolation from potential markets have hampered the economic 
development of this resource rich state.  In response, state 
officials are encouraging the GOI to create a "common market" in 
the Northeast by eliminating interstate excise taxes and to 
liberalize bilateral trade with Bangladesh.   In the area of 
public health, HIV/AIDS is emerging as a concern, though, unlike 
the neighboring states of Nagaland and Manipur, infections are 
not yet at epidemic levels.  Meghalaya, like the rest of the 
Northeast, continues to struggle with the residue of South 
Asia's partition and an almost colonial relationship with the 
Central government and its officials.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
Bangladeshi Migrants and Tribal Tensions Create Security 
Concerns 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
2. (U) Meghalaya, one of the "Seven Sister" states of 
Northeastern India, shares a 443 km. border with Bangladesh. 
Over 400,000 people out of the state's total population of 2.3 
million live along this border areas.  80 to 90 percent of the 
people are estimated to be tribal.  The Khasis clustered in the 
Khasi Hills, the Jaintias in the Jaintia Hills and Garos of the 
Garo Hills are the dominant ethnic groups.  Tribal ethnic 
tensions and the influx of illegal Bangladeshi migrants have 
been the major security issues for the state.  According to a 
report by the Institute of Conflict Management, the Garo Hills 
have been a route for arms smuggling from Bangladesh to the many 
ethnic insurgent groups in the Northeast.  The exact number of 
illegal Bangladeshis is not known but estimates are of hundreds 
of thousands resident in Meghalaya.  According to the South 
Asian Progressive Action Collective (SAPC), illegal migrants 
outnumber locals in the Jaintia coal belt, a region with an 
official population of almost 300,000.  Fear of being 
overwhelmed by the influx of Bangladeshi migrants, prompted 
villagers from Nongjri-Umnuih-Nongshken border area to announce 
on March 6 a program of, "Gun down a Bangladeshi criminal and 
collect rupees 3,000."  The villagers claimed that the step was 
taken in response to the alleged murders of locals and the 
looting of farms by Bangladeshi migrants. 
 
3.  (U) Indian officials appear unable to stem the migration, 
having a poor record of detection or legal action.  In March, 
Meghalaya Home Minister, H. Donkupar R. Lyngdoh, while 
responding to a question raised by Congress Party legislator 
Robert Garnett Lyngdoh, informed the Legislative Assembly that 
only a few thousand illegal Bangladeshis have been detained in 
recent years and only a few hundred have been convicted of 
illegal entry.  In 2004, 1,596 illegal Bangladeshis were 
detained by the authorities and just 18 were convicted.  The 
rest were ultimately released.  This year's numbers have also 
been low.  Available figures as of March show only 1,463 illegal 
migrants have been arrested and 14 convicted.  According to a 
status report submitted by the Border Security Forces (BSF) to 
the Delhi High Court on May 22, just 31 Bangladeshi nationals 
were deported from Meghalaya between January and April 2006. 
 
4.  (SBU) Until recently, the state also experienced serious 
security problems from two Garo and Khasi ethnic insurgent 
groups, Hynniewtrep National Volunteer Council (HNLC) and Achik 
National Volunteer Council (ANVC), which had been engaged in 
violence and extortion.  The ANVC began talks with GOI and 
implemented a ceasefire in July 2004, which continues to be 
extended.  Growing apathy within the ANVC has resulted in its 
collapse as an organization according to Chief Secretary S.K. 
Tewari.  Paramilitary operations against the HNLC have resulted 
in many deaths and defections of its members.  The struggling 
HNLC is keen to hold talks with GOI, but given the groups 
growing irrelevance, the GOI has not responded.  Lack of support 
from the public for the insurgents has further weakened their 
 
CALCUTTA 00000306  002 OF 004 
 
 
position. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
Meghalaya and the Northeast:  A Source and Transit Region for 
Trafficking of Persons 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
5. (U) During his visit to Meghalaya, ConGen participated in the 
inauguration of a regional South Asia consultation on 
anti-trafficking programs hosted by the Impulse NGO Network 
(Impulse), a G/TIP funded NGO.  Representatives from the United 
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and senior police 
officials and NGOs from other Northeast states were present at 
the event.  The Northeast states are a source and transit area 
for the trafficking of women and children.  Poverty and uneven 
economic development are major contributing factors for 
trafficking of women.  In addition, the conference discussions 
noted a growing trend of women from the Northeast being 
trafficked to North Indian states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh 
were there is an increasing paucity of marriageable women due to 
high rates of female infanticide.  The Northeast is also prone 
to natural disasters, especially flooding, and this creates a 
push effect for trafficking from the Northeast and neighboring 
countries, notably, Bangladesh.  A coordinated action plan among 
the states for combating the problem of trafficking in Northeast 
was suggested at the consultation.  A DVC with U.S.-based 
participants, which included a senior official from the 
Department of Justice, a special agent with Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security, and 
a detective in the Montgomery Country police, also helped in 
sharing U.S. experiences in combating trafficking.  The U.S. 
experts offered suggestions for Indian law enforcement officials 
and NGOs on how to cooperate in prosecuting traffickers and 
helping the victims. 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Hopes for Economic Development 
 
------------------------------ 
 
6.  (SBU) In their meetings with ConGen, Chief Minister J.D. 
Rymbai and Chief Secretary S.K. Tewari noted that the Planning 
Commission was in Shillong to discuss the State Plan allocation 
under India's Eleventh Five Year Plan.  The officials were 
hopeful that the Planning Commission would fund key 
infrastructure, especially power, for the state to promote its 
development.  Chief Secretary Tewari said that Meghalaya has a 
demand for 710 MW but its current capacity is only 185 MW. 
Fifty percent of the villages in the state have no electricity. 
The state has no railway connections and depends exclusively on 
its road network.  However, the road density is half of India's 
average and improving road connectivity is a major requirement 
for the state.  The growth rate of the State Domestic Product 
(SDP) is 4 percent per annum.  70 percent of the people live in 
rural areas contributing 29 percent to SDP, while services 
account for 56 percent of the SDP.  Chief Secretary Tewari 
expressed frustration that services sector in Meghalaya 
essentially means government workers, reflecting the need for 
private sector employment creation. 
 
7. (SBU) Tewari said that Meghalaya was discussing with other 
Northeast states a proposal to the GOI for the creation of a 
"common market" in the Northeast with each state specializing in 
its area of competence in the agriculture sector, which would 
bring economies of scale and efficiency gains.  In addition, the 
GOI and the states would work to eliminate interstate excise 
taxes that make commerce and trade between Indian states 
expensive and inhibits development.  This program would be 
supplemented with a tourism initiative for the region to create 
income-generating opportunities. 
 
8.  (SBU) Trade with Bangladesh is another important commercial 
issue for Meghalaya.  According to Tewari, Meghalaya exports 
approximately USD 45 million to Bangladesh annually but receives 
only USD 450 thousand in imports.  The state authorities believe 
that this imbalance can be reversed to the benefit of both 
 
CALCUTTA 00000306  003 OF 004 
 
 
countries.  Tewari offered the example of the large limestone 
deposits along Meghalaya's border with Bangladesh as an 
opportunity for mutually beneficial trade.  He stated that 
Bangladesh imports 12 billion tons of limestone for cement 
clinker from Indonesia at USD 58 per ton for its clinker plants. 
 This could be reduced to USD 30 per ton, he claimed, if the 
limestone were extracted from Meghalaya.  A further reduction in 
cost per unit is possible if instead of coal, natural gas, which 
is abundant in Bangladesh, could be used.  State authorities are 
also willing to allow cheap labor from Bangladesh to come into 
their territory for this purpose as is already being permitted 
with French cement company Lafarge's operation in the state. 
Meghalaya, on the other hand, could import a range of consumer 
goods from Bangladesh legally such as ceramics and processed 
food items which are frequently smuggled into the state.  While 
the South Asian Free Trade Agreement(SAFTA) has been in effect 
from July 1, 2006, critical items of interest to Meghalaya and 
Bangladesh are in the negative list, such as cement clinker, and 
state authorities expressed their frustration with the failure 
of the Indian and Bangladesh governments to liberalize trade. 
 
9.  (SBU) Tewari indicated another factor complicating 
development in the state, which is dominated by tribal 
populations, is the disintegration of the tribal communities' 
tradition of resources being held in common.  According to 
Tewari, individuals within the tribal communities have gained 
possession of the resources, whether land or mineral rights, and 
in concert with local officials have created a system of "crony 
capitalism."  Reflecting the concentration of wealth in a few 
hands, Tewari noted bank deposits in the state are approximately 
USD 666 million while its SDP is only USD 1.1 billion.  To 
address this problem, Tewari wants to change the political 
administration at the village level by creating "Area Employment 
Committees," essentially local "panchayatraj" administrative 
councils to identify development priorities and budget.  The 
goal is to give villagers a voice in the utilization of 
community resources. 
 
10.  (SBU) Meghalaya is also a state with large uranium 
deposits.  Domiasiat village in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills 
contains India's largest and richest uranium reserve.  The GOI 
owned Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) estimates that 
Domiasiat has about 10,000 tons of uranium ore, which is spread 
over a 10-sq-km area.  USD 100 million was earmarked in 1992 for 
a pilot mining project but a massive public protest in 1996 
forced UCIL to withdraw from Domiasiat.  Undeterred, the 
Geological Survey of India in 1998 identified 20 other places in 
Meghalaya with rich uranium deposits.  UCIL wants to mine all of 
these locations, potentially displacing an estimated 100,000 
people.  Chief Secretary Tewari, however, feels that the 
majority of the state is against the proposed mining as the UCIL 
is not trusted by the community.  The public is aware of the 
history of radioactive contamination around UCIL's mines in the 
East Indian state of Jharkhand.  Chief Secretary Tewari believes 
that if a reputable international agency or corporation were to 
monitor or conduct the extraction, the local community would be 
more favorable to allowing the region to be opened for uranium 
mining. 
 
--------------------------- 
 
HIV/AIDS: A Growing Concern 
 
--------------------------- 
 
11.  (U) HIV/AIDS is emerging as a priority issue for state 
officials, though the reported cases range only between 60 and 
80.  Authorities are concerned because of Meghalaya's proximity 
to Manipur and Nagaland, two states with epidemic levels of 
infections, and the low awareness of the disease in its mining 
areas, which have a significant percentage of migrant labor. 
The state government has begun to work with NGOs like Impulse on 
awareness and sentinel programs. 
 
------- 
 
COMMENT 
 
------- 
 
CALCUTTA 00000306  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
12.  (SBU) Prior to the Indo-Pakistan partition in 1947, 
Meghalaya was relatively prosperous, with great natural 
resources and ready access to markets in East India.  Cut-off 
from those markets by East Pakistan and later Bangladesh, it has 
been largely dependent on the largess of the GOI.  The 
government is the main employer and its five year plans 
determine the focus of funding and economic development for the 
state.  Sustainable economic growth and social development is 
not possible under these conditions.  Rather, full 
implementations of SAFTA and engagement with Bangladesh by the 
GOI could help to create markets for Meghalaya and the Northeast 
that would result in real private sector development and wealth 
creation for its communities.  Increasing economic opportunity 
would go a long way in addressing the root causes of the serious 
social problems affecting the state, such as trafficking of 
people, ethnic violence and poor public health. 
JARDINE