Shillong, July 30: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has strongly objected to Cabinet Minister Alexander Laloo Hek’s recent claim that the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016 is sufficient to control influx into the State.
Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem pointing out that the Act does not contain any provision directly aimed at checking influx.
“We fail to understand how MRSSA can regulate the entry of outsiders when it never mentions ‘checking influx,” Synrem while questioning the claim of Hek’s.
He urged the Cabinet Minister and others supporting the MRSSA as an anti-influx tool to thoroughly read the 2016 Act and refer to the Meghalaya High Court’s observations in PIL No. 13 of 2020.
Synrem mentioned that the court had examined the legality of setting up Facilitation Centres under Sections 17 and 18 of the Act.
The HYC president also highlighted that in its submission to the High Court, the State Government clarified through the Chief Secretary that these centres were only meant for tenant verification and identifying known anti-social elements and wanted criminals.
He also noted that a notification issued on December 7, 2021 had transferred these centres located at Umling, Umroi Airport, and Mendipathar Railway Station—to the Health Department for use as COVID-19 screening facilities.
“After the pandemic eased, the centres were abandoned and now serve no purpose,” he said.
Stating that the MRSSA merely a tenancy law applicable to all residents, Synrem said it cannot be considered a mechanism to regulate or control influx.
“The claim of the Cabinet Minister only misleads the indigenous people who have long been demanding the implementation of laws like the Inner Line Permit (ILP),” he asserted.
Terming the MRSSA 2016 a “toothless” Act, Synrem demanded that the State Government and all MLAs urgently push for the Centre to approve the Assembly’s December 19, 2019 resolution calling for ILP implementation in Meghalaya.
