Governor assent needed before notification
SHILLONG: A week after declaring that the ordinance on Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act 2016 (MRSSA) would come into “immediate effect,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Friday said the papers were awaiting Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s signature after which it will be forwarded to the Governor for his assent.
Speaking on the Act, he also said non-tribal residents of the state had nothing to fear.
The state Cabinet approved the amendments to the MRSSA on November 1 making it mandatory for visitors to the state to register themselves with the government.
Tynsong had then declared that an ordinance would be issued to give immediate effect to the Act. However, since there appears to have been no movement on the ostensibly urgent matter, which has necessitated the government to take recourse to an ordinance.
The deputy chief minister on Friday said the chief minister would sign the papers once he returns from his ongoing visit to Bangladesh on which he had embarked on November 5.
“All it requires is the signature of the chief minister which will be obtained once he returns from Bangladesh and the ordinance will be then sent to the Governor for his assent,” Tynsong said.
Adding a fresh element, he also said the government was considering if a token amount should be charged for the registration paper.
On the possible fallout of the amendment Act on non-tribal residents of the state, he said it would not be applicable to them adding that the rules will be defined properly and the government will make it simple.
Tynsong said that he has met, discussed and taken feedback from many senior non-tribal citizens of the state who also are very concerned about the unregulated influx. “Our non-tribal residents in Meghalaya will also be happy about this registration,” he said.
Shedding light on the build-up to the amendments, Tynsong said that the state government thought of it “not less than 100 times” and discussed threadbare all aspects before concluding that change was required and deciding what the amendments should be.
“Earlier, the Act focused only on tenants. Now, even the visitors are under it and it is just a mere registration process. We have already thought about tourists and we want to welcome them and ensure that they feel secure and not harassed,” he added.
He said that in the amendment the state government has simplified things as much as possible.
“They can apply online and if they don’t have time or miss it at the entry, they can do it while they check in at the guest houses, hotels or any other place of stay as the form will be circulated to all places of accommodation,” he added.
Saying that the amendment will only make things easier while also taking care of the perennial problem of influx, the deputy chief minister said, “It is only a mind-set. Just because we passed the amendment, people thought that it will be just like ILP, but I am telling you we are more concerned about all of them, even for investors”.
About students from outside the state studying in Meghalaya, Tynsong said, “For students who come to study, the institutions can do the registration on behalf of the government”.