SHILLONG:
The government’s justification to legalise gambling in the state as a medium to generate revenue hasn’t gone down well with the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC).
Asking the government to find alternate ways to raise revenue, the council, on May 7, has asked the state to repeal the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021.
“We demand the government to immediately repeal the provisions of the Act, its rules related to gambling and to come up with other measures to generate revenue for the state,” HYC general secretary Roy Kupar Synrem said in a statement, on Saturday.
Synrem said the government should refrain from making Meghalaya “a gambling state” by implementing this “unacceptable” law.
Slamming the government’s endeavours to organize festivals in a bid to attract consistent tourist flow to the state, Synrem further asserted the need for the government to cut down on “unnecessary expenditures”.
“We demand the government to reduce expenditures in organising different festivals which are not benefiting the state and to stop paying allowances to the MLAs/MDCs and ex-MLAs/ex-MDCs/MPs who are appointed as chairmen, co-chairmen, vice-chairmen and others in the different boards, corporations as they are all salaries and pensions from the government,” he said.
The Council further emphasised the need for the government to come up with a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. “The government should also address the problem related to leakage of revenue and benami transactions,” he said.
Of late, voices of resentment against the government’s move to legalise gambling has been growing stronger in the state. Earlier on May 6, Khasi Jaintia Church Leaders Forum (KJCLF) met with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and expressed their opposition to the move. Citing objection to the “immoral” aspect of gambling, Rev ER Kharkongor of the Presbyterian Church had said, “It affects the morality, the character of the citizens of the state.”