SHILLONG, MAR 12: Putting to rest all apprehensions about the implications of the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA), Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said that the implementation of the Act will not have a bearing on his state since it falls under the Sixth Schedule area that has already been exempted from its purview.
Speaking to reporters in Shillong on Tuesday, Sangma said, “From Meghalaya’s point of view it doesn’t really impact us much because the Sixth Schedule areas are completely exempted from the CAA except for a very small section which is non-schedule area. Apart from that the entire Sixth Schedule area has been exempted so it will not have any impact on the state of Meghalaya,” he assured.
Asked if government will continue to pursue with the Centre to exempt Meghalaya completely from the CAA, the chief minister clarified that, “There is hardly municipal area of 2-3 or this entire European ward of 1-2 sq km. It is really not a big impact as the entire of the state is exempted from it.”
“I think we are looking at that one dot which is there and not realising that the rest of 99.9999% is not included in CAA. That is what is important to note . That one dot is there because of a technical issue otherwise entire Sixth Schedule area is exempted from the CAA,” he added.
