By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 13: Following the recent murder of a tourist in Sohra and the renewed calls for Inner Line Permit (ILP), the State Cabinet on Friday took stock of the situation and resolved to revisit the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016, to tighten safety mechanisms and close existing gaps.
Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh, addressing reporters after the meeting, said, “The Cabinet decided to revisit the MRSSA to add teeth to it because of what we have just experienced at Sohra and to ensure that we minimise the possibility of criminal elements entering Meghalaya in the guise of tourists.”
Acknowledging the persistent demand for ILP, he pointed out that the matter now rests with the Ministry of Home Affairs. “As far as the ILP is concerned, the State Assembly adopted a resolution. The matter is pending before the MHA, which has several queries we are trying to address.”
He further explained, “Some of these queries relate to the fact that Meghalaya is not an endpoint. We are also connecting the rest of the Northeast like Silchar (Assam’s Barak Valley), Mizoram, and Tripura.”
Despite the uncertainty over the status of the ILP, Lyngdoh emphasised that the State has safeguards. “If you go through the MRSSA, a lot is already in place, but we need to upscale and improve upon what we already have in the MRSSA. So, we will come up with a formal proposal.”
Speaking about the tourism surveillance measures in place, he said, “We have a tourism app, which records all movements of tourists, including the cars or whatever mode of transport they use, and also the compulsory registration of all visitors at various homestays, resorts, and hotels. The use of this app is roughly around 50%, but we will now make it compulsory for all homestays, resorts, and other places of accommodation.”
Lyngdoh also underlined the objective of revisiting the Act: “MRSSA is our version of what we would like to do to ensure the safety of all residents of Meghalaya. But as I mentioned, we would like to revisit the Act to plug whatever loopholes it has, and give it more dynamism and thrust with what has happened at Sohra so that we have an atmosphere that is safe and tourist-friendly.”
Despite the recent episode, he said tourism activity in Sohra has not been affected. “As we speak, the footfall in Sohra itself is increasing. There are more and more visitors. Even when the case was still not solved, the footfall was still the same. Now, with the name of Meghalaya being vindicated and cleared, we are seeing more footfall. We expect this will touch 20 lakh by the Cherry Blossom Festival.”
The minister also spoke about improving infrastructure for tourist services. “They’re all active. The one we have in Shillong will be shifted to the MTC building for us to gain more space.”
To enhance engagement with visitors, the government is preparing to appoint the youth under the Tourist Buddy scheme. “We have issued a notice calling for interested youth who are fluent in Khasi, Garo, English, and Hindi to join this scheme. Within the next two months, we should be able to clear the appointment of 100 tourist buddies,” Lyngdoh said.