Residents Act 2016
SHILLONG: The Congress-led coalition government never implemented the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act 2016 though former chief minister Mukul Sangma wants the same Act to be taken up by the NPP-led MDA government.
Mukul wanted the original 2016 Act, which had more focus on tenants, to be implemented without any change while the present government has amended it to include conditions for visitors beyond the tenants.
Though the 2016 Act had reference to the visitors to the state, the amendment is more specific.
The Residents Act 2016 was ready with relevant rules, but there was no follow up action on the part of the Congress-led government.
An official said on Friday that at that point of time, he wanted 400 copies of the Residents Act to distribute to the people as part of creating awareness but there was no pro-active step by the government.
According to official records, Mukul mooted the idea of Residents Act and the setting up of entry and exit points after the pressure groups wanted the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP). Sources said that Mukul was under pressure from various groups from 2012 to implement the ILP in the state and the government-appointed committee headed by his deputy Bindo Lanong had even recommend the same in his report.
But Mukul did not implement the recommendation as the Assembly election was ahead.
After the Assembly polls in 2013, when the Congress-led government under the leadership of Mukul was installed again, the influx issue was raked up by the pressure groups.
To douse the situation, the government came up with the Residents Act in 2015 and it was notified in 2016.