Assam, Meghalaya resolve boundary disputes at 6 places: Govt

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) The Government on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that inter-state boundary disputes at six locations between Assam and Meghalaya have been resolved.

Both states have boundary disputes at 12 places.

Responding to a question by BJP lawmaker Bhubaneswar Kalita, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that the discussions have been going on at various levels between the states of Assam and Meghalaya to arrive at an amicable solution to the border issue.

He also said that the approach of the Central Government has consistently been that inter-state boundary issues can be resolved only with the cooperation of the state governments concerned, the government acts as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the boundary issue in the spirit of mutual cooperation and understanding.

"As a result of these discussions, the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya have agreed for permanent settlement of the inter-state boundary in respect of six areas of difference out of a total twelve between the States of Assam and Meghalaya", Rai said in his reply in the Upper House.

Replying to another question by Trinamool Congress Member Derek O' Brien on the delay in conducting the decadal census in 2021, the Minister further said that the intent of the Government for conducting Census 2021 was notified in Gazette of India on March 28, 2019, however, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, the conduct of Census 2021 and the related field activities have been postponed until further orders.