SHILLONG: Under pressure, the state government has now decided to implement the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act.
Talking to media persons after holding a meeting with the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner M. War and the political department, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said, “We have decided that we will go very fast with the implementation of the MRSSA”.
The chief minister informed that the deputy commissioner would call a meeting of the special task force on January 13.
Cabinet Minister AL Hek was also present in the meeting.
“There are localities which have already been identified and by Tuesday or Wednesday next, programmes of sensitisation will start as to how the registration should be done, Rangbah Shnong, locality people and different stakeholders would be called to discuss on how the MRSSA would be implemented,” he said.
Sixth Schedule to stay
When asked about the speculations that Sixth Schedule may be removed from the state while implementing ILP, Sangma said there is no truth in the speculations.
“I don’t think that at any point in time, it is a matter to be discussed at all. There is no question of Sixth Schedule to be removed as it is a protection and a privilege given to the people of the state and tribals. We are very firm as a government that there is no question of any compromise on the Sixth Schedule,” he said.
Making it clear that the state wants ILP to be implemented, he admitted that there are challenges in achieving ILP but the state government would try to convince the Centre to implement ILP in the state.
CM-Shah discussion
In response to a query about meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the chief minister said he had a telephonic discussion with the union minister.
“He has told me that as soon as he fixes a date, he will call me and I am hoping to hear from him very soon. We may get appointment next week but he did not give any specific commitment of a date,” he said.
On CAA, he reiterated that Meghalaya wants full exemption from the Act.
He said the exemption of the state from CAA and the mechanism for protection of the indigenous population are two different things.
He said MRSSA would be a mechanism like the ILP and this would be systematic and highly technical to ensure that the interest of the people is protected but at the same time ensuring that there is minimum inconvenience to the people who actually visit the state or come for work.
The chief minister said while the entry and exit points are related to infrastructure, the implementation of the policy to check influx is another aspect, ”Policy is what we are trying to focus on whether it is the MRSSA or the ILP”.
