SHILLONG, Oct 14: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said the state government will repeal the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act (MRGA), 2021 through an ordinance which will then be regularized in the Assembly.
“Repealing of the Act can be done through an ordinance and that ordinance can then be passed in the House,” Sangma told reporters when responding to a query if the government would require calling a special session to repeal the said Act.
He said the government had earlier repealed the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood Regulation of Street Vending) Act through an ordinance, which was later regularized in the Assembly.
“Similarly any Act can be repealed through an ordinance and this is the procedure that will be followed,” he said.
This came a day after the Minister in-charge Taxation James K Sangma announced the government’s decision to repeal the MRGA, 2021 following stiff opposition from stakeholders including church leaders and pressure group leaders against the setting up of casinos in the state.
When asked, the chief minister said by repealing the MRGA, there will not be any mechanism to regulate other forms of gambling activities in the state. “Therefore, that is the other side of the story. We definitely will be back to square one now and we will have to see how we move forward in this line,” he said.
Sangma said the decision was taken after speaking to different stakeholders and in the larger interest of the people of the state.
The chief minister also informed that he had couple of discussions with the taxation minister even before the announcement was made.
On the allegation that the MDA government was fearing that the issue may have negative impact in the upcoming 2023 polls, Sangma however said the state government has always maintained that it will listen to the voice of the people.
“We strongly feel that when the concerns of the citizens are there, concerns of the people are there then the government must listen – so whether elections are there or not, the point is that this government has always kept that (voice of the people) as a priority. On many occasions, we have seen it has been done in this manner so it is being done from the point of people’s concern and people’s desire that this should be reviewed and that is what we have done,” he said.
