Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has said that the State’s plan to regulate the entry of visitors hinges not on setting up physical entry-exit points but on creating a legally enforceable mechanism through amendments to the Meghalaya Residents, Safety and Security Act (MRSSA). Emphasising that enforcement remains the central challenge, the Chief Minister said the proposed amendments are intended to provide the legal framework necessary to make registration and verification systems effective, amid the government’s broader push to strengthen monitoring of visitors entering the State.
“Getting an entry-exit point is not an issue. We can set it up today, we can set it up tomorrow. The question is about having a legal mechanism to implement and actually enforce a checking that should happen.” He said the real problem lies in enforcement. “So, that is where the problem and the challenge is and that is where we are hoping that the amendment of the Meghalaya Residents, Safety and Security Act (MRSSA) will then allow us to have that system in place,” he said.
Stressing that infrastructure alone cannot address the issue, Sangma said, “So, putting up a gate is not an issue at all but making it and enforcing it to check and what kind of checking takes place that is a key issue. So, opening a gate tomorrow and having people sitting there is not going to solve the problem.” Agreeing with the Tourism Minister on the need for a registration centre, he added, “He is right in the sense that we are going to set up but as I said for it to become actually effective in the way that we would want it to be, that requires some work to be done which is what the MRSSA amendment was supposed to be. We are working on it, let’s hope for the best.”
