Shillong, Jan 10: Leader of Opposition, Dr. Mukul Sangma, stated that when the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government led by the NPP first came to power in 2018, it tried to discuss on the possible amendment of the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA) without even starting to implement it even as he accused it of having a malafide intention to make it ineffective..
Sangma, said that the MRSSA was “co-authored” by the then government led by him and civil society groups.
The Leader of Opposition said that the MRSSAs designed ion such a way that inspite of having a porous border with Bangladesh and a border with Assam, the Act can fulfill the government’s intent of protecting the citizens of the state in terms of maintaining the demography of the indigenous tribes.
He said that Inner Line Permit (ILP) is not a state subject and when he was in the government he couldn’t promise to implement it unlike the present government.
“I cannot promise on behalf of the government of India and couldn’t take the union government for granted,” Sangma said.
He said that when he knew the centre will not agree to ILP, he decided to come up with an alternative as far as the mandate of the Constitution given to the state legislature is concern.
The Leader of Opposition said that within the space available in as far as the legislative jurisdiction to the state is concerned, the then government went as far as possible and formulated the MRSSA.
Sangma pointed out that in absence of guidelines, the facilitations centres, supposed to be set up under the MRSSA, should not operate.
He said that the guidelines had to be formulated by the state government on how the facilitation centres should operate even as he alleged that the current MDA government did not do their job.
“They cheated the people and that’s why the MRSSA could not be implemented,” he said.
According to him, the MRSSA, 2016 has withstood judicial scrutiny but the proposed amendment went beyond the legislative jurisdiction of the state and therefore the Ministry of Home Affairs returned the amendment bill.
Sangma said that the MRSSA became non-implementable with the proposed amendment even as he added that the modification of the Act has failed but the principal act has not.
The Leader of Opposition also said that he pitied their legislative competence.
On the statement of Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong, blaming the then Congress-led government for failing to mention in the original act regarding the setting up of the entry-exit points.
Sangma said that the Deputy Chief Minister is lying to the people.
The Leader of Opposition also said that the current government does not want to implement the MRSSA, because as per the mandate of the Act, CCTVs is to be installed all along the state and national highways.
“They want to allow illegal mining and transportation that is why they are not implementing this,” he alleged.
Sangma said that the moment the act is implemented in letter and spirit of illegal transportation and mining of coal can take place.
