SHILLONG, Sep 18: KHADC Chief Executive Member Titosstarwell Chyne credited the constituents of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance for the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Regulation and Administration) of Land Bill, 2021, becoming an Act.
“It is not right to give credit to only one party. All the MDA allies deserve credit,” he told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
Chyne said he undertook the initiative to form the committee on the Land Bill after taking charge as the executive member in charge of Land in 2019. “Some suggestions by (National People’s Party MLA Macmillan) Byrsat were incorporated,” he said.
He had nominated the Nongstoin MLA as a member of the committee.
The KHADC chief, however, did not find anything wrong with the NPP taking credit for political mileage ahead of the Assembly polls. “All political parties will try to benefit from any issue during election time,” he said.
Byrsat had earlier said NPP deserves credit for the Land Act. “Our party had committed to codifying the land tenure system of the Khasis after being voted to power in 2018,” he said.
He had claimed the NPP members had a meeting with Chyne to urge him to codify the land tenure system. The MDCs of both the NPP and the United Democratic Party (UDP) agreed to the proposal, he said.
Byrsat recalled his nomination as a member of a land committee constituted in the KHADC. He also recalled the formation of an expert committee comprising officials of the Law, District Council Affairs and Revenue departments to study the Land Bill.
The Nongstoin MLA said the expert committee studied the areas of conflict between the bills of the KHADC and the government. The bill was pending with the state government after the KHADC passed it last year.
The expert committee sat again on July 21 and found the bill to be fine.
“We then recommend to the state government that the bill should be sent to the Governor for his assent. I had requested both the chief minister and the deputy chief minister to look into the matter since the issue was part of the party manifesto for the elections to both the KHADC and JHADC in 2019,” Byrsat said.
The Governor gave his assent to the bill on August 30.
