Shillong, March 18: The three pressure groups–Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), Jaintia National Council (JNC) and Confederation of Ri Bhoi People (CORP) have urged the NPP led MDA Government to urge the Central Government to provide for full exemption to the state of the CAA, 2019 and its Rules.
The three pressure groups also urged upon the Government to impress upon the Centre to extend the provisions of the ILP systems in the State of Meghalaya at the earliest.
Talking to reporters here on Monday, HYC president, Roy Kupar Synrem said that they were concerned that even if the majority of the areas in the State were exempted from the purview of the CAA, 2019, the State would be affected by the spill-over from the other States and especially the State of Assam.
“In the absence of any law that regulates the movement of people entering the State, we fear that the exemption provided will be futile and we may face unwarranted situations of influx into the State. Therefore, the only protection that we can have from this spill-over effect is the immediate implementation of ILP system as well as full exemption of the provisions of the Amendment Act in the State,” Synrem said.
He said that although the CAA, 2019 provided for exemptions of the applicability of the Act in the tribal areas of the State but the fact remains that the whole state of Meghalaya is not under the Sixth Scheduled to the Constitution of India.
According to him, there are still areas under Shillong City where the provisions of the Sixth Scheduled are not applicable and also where a large number of immigrants are residing.
“In such a case, if people residing in these areas or taking advantage of the non-applicability of the Act in the areas may migrate to these areas and after that they are applying for Citizenship under the Act, 2019. Then how will the State stop them for getting the Citizenship under the Act ? Is there a mechanism to keep track of the number of people presently residing within these areas so that a data is kept for future references?,” he questioned.
At the same time, the three pressure groups also decided to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma in this connection.