Govt to table bill to repeal controversial Gaming Act

SHILLONG, March 9: The state government is set to table a bill in the Assembly to repeal the controversial Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act (MRGA), 2021.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday said the bill will be tabled during the upcoming Budget session.
Talking to reporters after the first Cabinet meeting of the MDA 2.0 Government, Sangma said the Cabinet had passed an ordinance last year to repeal the Act. “We are going to put it in the form of a bill when the session is on,” he said.
It may be recalled that the Cabinet, on November 10 last year, had passed an ordinance to repeal the controversial Act following stiff opposition from different pressure groups in the state and church leaders against setting up of casinos in the state.
The government had even issued licences in March last year to set up three casinos leading to widespread protests and agitations by various organisations in the state.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister said that they will also be tabling the Contingency Fund of Meghalaya Amendment Bill, 2023 during the upcoming session.
“We had brought in an ordinance even for this. We will now bring it in the form of a bill,” Sangma added.
The CM further said that the full budget for the financial year 2023-24 will be passed during the upcoming Budget session, likely to commence on March 20.
Sangma told reporters that the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) is scheduled to meet on Monday to finalise the list of business and the number of working days for the upcoming Budget session.
When asked if it is necessary that the budget session should end by March 31, he said that it will be healthy and good if the budget concludes within this month so that they can process the whole exercise.
“If we pass only the vote on account then it will be only for the first quarter (April to June). Then we will need to reconvene the House again for passing the full budget. The full budget picture will not come out if we pass only the vote on account,” Sangma, who heads the Finance Department, said.
“The exercise to prepare the full budget started a long time back. Therefore, the Finance department is very much ready with the full budget,” he added.