NONGSTOIN, July 2: The National People’s Party (NPP), on Friday, demanded of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) Chief Executive Member, Titosstarwell Chyne, to convene a special session of the Council specifically for reintroducing and passing the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land) Bill, 2021.
In a statement, president of the NPP, West Khasi Hills, Macmillan Byrsat, stated that the Bill is the need of the hour as it will be “the protector of our land in the Khasi Hills”.
Byrsat, in a letter to the CEM, pointed out that the main issue concerning the general public of the Khasi Hills is safeguarding the ownership of their land by way of “codifying the land tenure system which has been in practice since time immemorial”.
The KHADC, under the leadership of the CEM, constituted the Drafting Committee on the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land) Bill, 2021, and the Bill has been drafted and introduced in the house.
However, as there were areas where there are conflict of interest between the state and the Council, the Bill was sent back by the government to the KHADC for a relook into such areas.
The district NPP president noted that the state government, which has flagged concern over the passing of the Bill, has taken a crucial step by constituting an expert committee comprising representatives including a legal consultant of the KHADC, representatives from the District Council Affairs, Revenue and Law departments and the Chairman of Meghalaya State Law Commission to examine the different bills of the Council before sending them to the Governor for his assent. “The Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration of Land) Bill, 2021, was one of such bills which has been looked into by the Expert Committee,” Byrsat said.
Macmillan Byrsat, who is also the legislator of Nongstoin, said that the areas of conflict were rectified during the screening and agreed accordingly by the Expert Committee and returned to the KHADC for reintroduction.
