SHILLONG, May 12: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said the state government came up with the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021, with the intention to regulate the gaming and jackpot parlours operating across the state for the past 25 years.
He told reporters that these gaming and jackpot parlours have been functioning without any rules, laws and regulations. This means they are not paying any tax, he said.
“It is for this reason that this particular gaming act has been brought in so that the gaming parlours come within the ambit of the law and are required to pay taxes,” Sangma said.
He reiterated that this was not done to start new casinos or start new gaming parlours within Shillong.
“I am very clear that this is not going to lead to casinos or anything like that coming up anywhere in the state capital or major tourist destinations,” the chief minister said.
Sangma said if the government decides to move forward after consultations with the stakeholders, it would be in specific locations more towards the border with Assam.
According to him, it will be in areas where the government feels it could be a source of revenue without actually harming the state in terms of the social impact.
Drugs menace
The CM said he has asked the police, Social Welfare Department and other line departments to come up with a comprehensive plan within 10 days to deal with substance abuse.
“We have asked the various departments to come up with a more detailed action plan on the problem of drugs and the support they need to be more aggressive,” he said.
He also said during his visit to many localities in the past two months, most of Rangbah Shnongs and members of the locality expressed concern over the menace of drugs.
He said the police are looking to bring in more technology to be able to scan and stop the entry of drugs from different locations.
The CM said the Social Welfare Department has been asked to outline various programmes and the actions taken so far to deal with the drug problem.
“We have asked the Social Welfare Department to spell out the role of each department and each organisation and involve the society to create awareness against drugs,” he said.
Sangma said that in the next 10 days, all the departments will come up with a more detailed report for finalising a proper plan of action.
He said the state government is ready to support any NGO to run a drug de-addiction or rehabilitation centre.
“We would like to work with the NGOs that are working in this field and we are ready to support them to run the rehabilitation centre. The setting up of the rehabilitation centre in PP mode would is preferred because the NGOs can manage and run it better. I would want more NGOs to come forward and work on this front,” he said.
