SHILLONG, May 15: Congress has strongly opposed the plan of the National People’s Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government to legalise gambling and online betting for tourists.
Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) working president, PN Syiem questioned the state government’s argument that this was being done with the sole objective of generating revenue.
“Why gambling, when the state government can explore other areas to increase its revenue? It clearly shows a lack of planning and proper policy,” he said on Sunday.
He said the state government needs to find alternatives to gambling and online betting for generating revenue. The state’s abundant resources should be explored for the purpose, he added.
The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) supremo, KP Pangniang said the state should push the Centre to have its own legislation to regulate the mining of mineral resources instead of legalising gambling and online betting. “We are against any move to legalise gambling even though the government claims it will help generate more than Rs 1,000 crore annually,” he said.
He further said the HSPDP wants the Centre’s MMDR Act of 1957 to be a state Act by amending para 12A(b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India, as land in Meghalaya belongs to the people and not the government.
Earlier, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma had clarified that the government decided to legalise gambling with the intention to regulate the gaming and jackpot parlours existing in the state for the past 25 years.
He claimed small and online game parlours have been operating in the state without paying tax. Legalising gambling would bring them under the purview of the law and make them pay taxes, he had said.
Joining the clamour against legalise gambling and online betting, the executive committee of the Lympung Ki Hynriew Shnong (LKHS) asked the NPP-led government to immediately scrap the Gaming Act.
The Lympung Ki Hynriew Shnong consists of the localities of Wahingdoh, Mission Compound, Wahthapbru, Riatsamthiah, Umsohsun and Mawkhar.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, LKHS general secretary Farewell Nongkynrih said they had recently met at the Khasi National Dorbar Hall, Mawkhar, where it was agreed upon that establishment of casinos will have detrimental effects on the society as a whole and would project the local indigenous communities in bad light.
He urged the state government to explore alternatives avenues to increase its revenues instead of resorting to legalised gambling.
