Shillong: The Meghalaya Rural Tourism Forum (MRTF) has expressed its disagreement with the recent proposal by the Meghalaya Khasi Tourist Taxi Association (AMKTTA) to ban all Assam-registered tourist taxis from operating at various tourist spots in the state.
President of the MRTF, Alan West Kharkongor, stated on Monday that the forum held an urgent meeting on September 30 to discuss AMKTTA’s announcement. The MRTF then submitted a letter to the tourism minister with resolutions from the meeting.
Kharkongor argued that the proposed ban is legally invalid, violating the Fundamental Rights and freedom of inter-state trade and commerce under the Constitution of India.
“We the members present in the meeting recognise that the members of the AMKTTA have a right to earn a livelihood but the path taken by them to stop commercial vehicles with valid credentials to ply within the State of Meghalaya is not the path by which they should resort to as this would cause a collapse of the tourism sector in the State and destroy its economy,” stated MRTF president.
The MRTF further advised the tourism minister that replicating Sikkim’s tourism model in Meghalaya is not feasible, as Sikkim is a land-locked state with sensitive international borders. Kharkongor highlighted that Meghalaya serves as a transit route for residents of neighboring states like Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam, and adopting Sikkim’s model could complicate inter-state movement.
“Our State is a State through which residents of other States like Tripura, Mizoram and Assam transit through, and thus the adoption of the Sikkim model would raise issues of movements of people of various other States,” stated Kharkongor.
The forum also emphasised that traditional heads, Sordars, and Rangbah Shnongs have consistently allowed tourist vehicles from all states to access tourist spots equally, maintaining a fair and long-standing arrangement.
The MRTF urged the inclusion of representatives from various tourism stakeholders such as MRTF, MTDF, TOAM, SRTA, FOSH, and JTES in the committee announced by the Chief Minister to address AMKTTA’s issues. The forum suggested that the committee, once formed, should submit its final report to the government within six months.
The tourism minister assured the MRTF that a meeting involving all stakeholders would be convened.
When asked if there were differences between MRTF and AMKTTA, Kharkongor denied any conflict but noted that there were concerns raised by the transport sector.
“There are genuine issues and I have informed the tourism minister that our transporters are being harassed at Guwahati airport. They don’t have a parking space. In case if they enter and if they get passengers or don’t get passengers they will still have to pay a certain charge which affects their income. I have informed this issue to the minister. This can only be taken up at the level of the state govt to discuss with the airport authority to ensure that transporters from Meghalaya should get enough parking space inside Guwahati airport,” stated Kharkongor.
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