SHILLONG: The state government will bring an ordinance on Meghalaya Residents Safety & Security Act. A decision in this regard will be taken in the next cabinet meeting.
The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma discussed the matter on Friday.
The meeting decided to clear the amended Meghalaya Residents Safety & Security Act in the next meeting of the cabinet.
Taking to media persons, Conrad informed that the proposed amendments to the Act were discussed in details and the necessary changes in the Act were proposed and the concerned department will work on the changes and bring it back to the cabinet in its next meeting for approval.
Confirming that the government will bring an ordinance, the chief minister added that the government is ensuring that the amended Act achieves the objective of protecting the people and at the same time ensuring that it causes minimum inconvenience to the people visiting the state.
Reacting to a query about the demands of the pressure groups to implement Inner Line Permit in the state, Sangma said the objective is to protect the local people and the government is trying to find out different mechanisms and laws. “ILP is one of the mechanisms but it is not the only mechanism. There are different mechanisms and laws under which the Constitution has given power to the state and if there can be a law which would enable the state to achieve the same objective of ILP without going to the Union government, it would be much simpler”, he said.
When asked about the demands of the groups to include provisions of ILP in the amended Meghalaya Residents Safety & Security Act, the chief minister said the government will ensure the new amended Act achieves the objective of the state, keeps the Constitution of India in mind and does not affect tourism related economic activities in the state.
Earlier, the government had decided to hold an all party meeting on the Act after the Diwali break.
