SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on October 26 said an ordinance to repeal the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act (MRGA), 2021 will be passed in the next cabinet meeting which will be held very soon.
“In the next cabinet the ordinance will be brought,” Sangma told reporters.
The government’s decision to repeal the MRGA 2021 was following stiff opposition from stakeholders including church leaders and pressure groups against the setting up of casinos in the state.
This came days after the Khasi Jaintia Church Leaders Forum (KJCLF) organised a special prayer meeting against the government’s adamant attitude towards their demand for closure of casino industry and repealing of the MRGA, 2021.
Earlier on October 14, the chief minister had informed that repealing of the Act can be done through an ordinance, which can then be passed in the Assembly.
He had said the government had earlier repealed the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood Regulation of Street Vending) Act through an ordinance, which later regularized in the Assembly.
“Similarly any Act can be repealed through an ordinance and this is the procedure that will be followed,” he added.
The chief minister had also maintained that 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 had said.