The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has taken serious exception to Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong’s statement that the Meghalaya Residents’ Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was being allowed to “die a natural death.”HYC observed that Tynsong’s statement was not merely political opinion but amounted to failure of the incumbent government and an apparent attempt to shift responsibility onto the previous Mukul Sangma-led government.During a recent meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a state government delegation in New Delhi, Meghalaya had proposed incorporating a provision within the Immigration and Foreigners Act that would mirror the existing Inner Line Permit (ILP) framework, effectively allowing the state to function as a protected or restricted area under the Act.
The response from Shah, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had indicated, was encouraging.Taking serious exception to Tynsong’s statement, HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem said, “A law does not die naturally. It is either pursued with legislative intent or abandoned through executive inaction. By openly acknowledging that the MRSSA Bill has been allowed to lapse, the MDA government has admitted that it chose not to exercise its constitutional authority to amend, strengthen or reintroduce the legislation.”“The MRSSA Bill was introduced in the state Assembly in March 2020 under the present Chief Minister. It was returned by the Ministry of Home Affairs in November 2023 for review, after which the government had repeatedly assured the public that it would undertake re-examination, legal consultation and stakeholder engagement,’ Synrem pointed out.
