By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 29: Newly-appointed Leader of Opposition, Mukul Sangma on Thursday asked the state government to amend a particular section of the MRSSA, 2016 which provides for facilitation centres, that was objected to by the High Court of Meghalaya and implement the Act at the earliest. He pointed out that the Act has withstood judicial scrutiny and the only thing left is to fine tune it for implementation.
“Let’s put our head together and proceed further as the civil society still has doubts about our resolve to implement the mandate of the law,” he said.
Earlier, moving a resolution urging the government to implement the principal act of MRSSA 2016, Sangma said, “It is the true empowerment of our local traditional bodies. Allowing this law to remain ineffective or keeping it in abeyance because of the proposed amendment defeats the intent of the Act which was a collective offshoot of all stakeholders.”
He said the principal Act withstood judicial scrutiny but the amended bill passed by the House is still lingering because of Article 200 of the Constitution. “It has become necessary for us to see that we allow the implementation of the mandate of the crucial piece of legislation in its original form. Let the MRSSA 2016 be operationalised in letter and spirit to take care of the responsibilities of the state government,” he said, referring to the challenges of illegal immigration.
In reply, Tynsong said the government is awaiting the response from the Ministry of Home Affairs but relevant portions of the Act like verification of tenants and formation of the District Task Force in all districts have been implemented.
He said the matter pertaining to the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which has been reserved by the Governor for the consideration of the President is also being followed up with the MHA.
“We have already sent a detailed reply and the matter has also been followed up by the CM during his meeting with the Union Home Minister in Delhi on July 15, 2024,” Tynsong added.