SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said he would meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh over the Coal Ministry’s decision to exempt Meghalaya from the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act, 1973.
“The Home Ministry is the one that has to take this up and I will be meeting the home minister when we visit Delhi for the citizenship bill,” Sangma said.
The constitutional power to exempt the state from the central acts under para 12 (a) (b) of the Sixth Schedule lies with the Home Ministry, he informed as he said “it is not as simple as that”.
When asked if his government was aware of the Coal Ministry’s decision,
Sangma said, “It has been there since 2015 and sadly nothing has been happening from that time. It was something that nobody was made aware of and it was only after we started digging out all the files and paper works that we come across this. It is something that has come as a big boost.”
“We were hoping that the state government should have moved from that time onwards but it is quite strange that… no movement was made (since 2015). Now that we found this out last week, I am going to meet the Centre,” he added.
Though the ministry had consented to exempt Meghalaya from the two acts in regard to coal and lignite but the Centre did not reveal it. Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh on Monday criticised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for not disclosing the ministry’s decision.
Reacting to her remark, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Tuesday the Union Cabinet would recommend to the President to issue a presidential notification to exempt Meghalaya from the acts.
“It is only the view of the Ministry of Coal that Meghalaya should be exempted from the two acts and the Cabinet would also seek views from other connected departments like Ministry of Environment,” he said.
When asked whether the BJP-led NDA government was sabotaging the issue of coal mining in the state, Tynsong said there was “no question of sabotaging since the Union Cabinet is yet to take a final call on the matter”.
Environment concern
Sangma, while replying to a question on protection of environment if Meghalaya is exempted from the laws, said, “There are guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Mines and Safety. Therefore, all acts and guidelines which are there in order to ensure protection of environment and to ensure that miners are safe, those cannot be flouted. There is no question of being exempted from those (safety of miners and environment).”
(With inputs from UNI)