New Delhi: The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) on Monday demanded that the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution should be suitably amended to empower the governor of the state and not the President to implement or reject any law pertaining to the state.
Such an amendment will provide the state with the option of either implementing or rejecting the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
In a letter submitted to the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, the HSPDP said that it resolved to request the Central government to amend the para 12A(b) of the Sixth Schedule by replacing the word ‘President’ with the word ‘Governor’.
Incidentally, the governor of Assam is bestowed with such power which is not in practice in Meghalaya.
“The party in its urgent meeting last month expressed extreme concern on Paragraph 12A(b) and the need to amend it,” the letter said.
Giving example, it said that under the same paragraph the Governor of Assam has the power to notify and direct that any Act of Parliament shall not apply to an autonomous district council or an autonomous region in the state.
“It is very unfortunate to state here that the same has been turned down by the President of India. Legislative acts like the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill need to be exempted from Meghalaya and hence, we need such powers to be given to the Governor instead of the President,” the letter stated.
“We have noted that there are several Central Acts and Rules that affect the unique identity, cultural, land tenure and demographic structure of the state,” the letter said.
In the past, the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly had passed a Resolution urging the President of India to exempt applicability of the Conservation of Forest Act, 1980 and the MMDR Act, 1957 to accord special protection to the indigenous people in the schedule areas of Meghalaya.
However, this will not apply outside the scheduled Areas in the state of Meghalaya, it added.
The letter was signed by party leaders Renikton L. Tongkhar and Samlin Malngiang.
