Law to check commercialisation of health care system
HSPDP legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit urged upon the Government to enact a law in the State in order to check and control the commercialization of health care system. Speaking during Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday, Basaiawmoit said that a law, similar to the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, which is applicable to all the Union Territories and four States which include Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim can be looked into.
He said that this Act determines the minimum standards of health care by a clinical establishment. “Every clinical establishment has to be registered to admit patients. Norms required to be met prior to registration include minimum standards of facilities and minimum qualifications for the personnel,” the HSPDP legislator said.
In reply, Health and Family Welfare Minister AL Hek said that the Government has already passed the Meghalaya Nursing Home (Licensing and Regulation) Act, 1993 to address the issue of commercialization of health care system in the State.
“At present, the department is framing the rules to implement the various provisions of the Act. We would try to complete the same at the earliest,” Hek said.
Declining to make any commitment on the suggestion of the HSPDP legislator that the relevant provision of the Central Act should be incorporated in the rules, he said that the Government would try to put in place the best possible law to prevent any attempt of commercialization of the health care system.
CM declines Opposition proposal on revisiting Benami Transaction Act, 1980
Informing that there was no case of benami transaction in the State, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma declined to accept the proposal of the Opposition to revisit Meghalaya Benami Transaction Act, 1980.
“The Act is beautifully crafted. The detailing which has been done to the various provisions of the Act is really commendable. The only thing which we need is to take cognizance of the Act,” Dr Sangma said while replying to a question raised by HSPDP legislator, Ardent Basaiawmoit during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday. “I would like to suggest the Government to revisit this Act and also give suo-muto power to police to act when they have any prima facie evidence,” the HSPDP legislator had said. UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh said that the existing Act suffers from serious lacunae considering the fact that not a single case of benami transaction has been detected in the State. “The Government should seriously consider the option of revisiting the existing Act,” Lyngdoh added.
‘Condition of NH-44 lay-by to be improved’
PWD Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar informed that the department has sent a fresh proposal in the current fiscal year to the Union Ministry of Roads and Highways for allocation of funds to improve the condition of a lay-by portion of NH-44 near the no entry point at Lad Smit. “We submitted a proposal in the last fiscal but the Ministry did not approve the funds which had been proposed for improvement of the lay-by,” Dhar said while replying to a query raised by HSPDP legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday.
Amlarem-Muktapur Road
The PWD Minister said that the improvement and strengthening of the Amlarem-Muktapur is still in progress. Replying to question raised by Nongthymmai legislator Jemino Mawthoh, Dhar said that it is not true that the Delhi-based firm Ms Vayan Techno Limited had abandoned the project. “The firm is still implementing the project,” the PWD Minister said. Earlier, Mawthoh said that the improvement of the road did not take off despite the Government allocating a total amount of Rs 98.85 lakh after the project was cancelled.
Law for regulating house rent in rural areas
Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Revenue and Disaster Management, Prof RC Laloo assured that the Government would examine the proposal on the need to have a law for regulating house rent in rural areas.
“I think this is a very good proposal. With the developmental activities taking place across the State, the Government needs to regulate house rent even in the rural areas,” Prof Laloo said while replying to a question raised by HSPDP legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday.
He said that the Government enacted the Meghalaya Urban Areas Rent Control Act, 1972 to fix rent on houses situated within the limits of urban areas.
Earlier, Basaiawmoit urged upon the State Government to make a law regarding this issue so that it covers the whole State since the Meghalaya Urban Areas Rent Control Act, 1972 is currently confined to urban areas only.
“We have seen in many cases that the landlords never consider that they have a legal duty to maintain a minimum standard for rental accommodation as prescribed by means of regulation as outlined in the Housing (Standard for Rental Houses) Regulation 2008 and also the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) (Amendment) Regulation 2009,” the HSPDP legislator said.
VRS dues to be cleared soon: CM
Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma assured that the Government would clear all the pending dues of the remaining 17 employees of the Meghalaya Electronics Development Corporation (MEDC), who have opted for the Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS), as soon as possible.
“There is a delay in clearing the dues of the MEDC employees as the issue of VRS and arrear claim as per the 4th Pay Recommendations needed to be sorted out,” Dr Sangma said while replying to a question raised by Nongthymmai legislator Jemino Mawthoh during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday. The Chief Minister informed that the deadlock was finally resolved after Chief Secretary WMS Pariat convened a meeting with the employees recently. Replying to a supplementary question raised by HSPDP legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, he said that the Government would also take into consideration the various government undertakings on its viability and sustainability. “The Government would try to adopt the same policy as in the case of MEDC to encourage the employees of those government undertakings which are unproductive to opt for VRS,” the Chief Minister said.