Shillong, Dec 3: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Tuesday maintained that the stand of the state delegation has been to exempt the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) from the whole state of Meghalaya.
The state delegation led by chief minister, Conrad K Sangma had submitted a resolution to oppose the CAB before the Union home minister, Amit Shah during the meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday.
The delegation comprised of the state government, political parties and civil society organizations.
Tynsong told reporters that the union home minister had assured the delegation that the CAB if passed by the Centre, will not be applicable in Sixth Schedule areas.
“However, our stand is that there should be no CAB in the entire state of Megahalaya, which also have areas falling outside the Sixth Schedule,†he said.
Asked if the state delegation was satisfied with the assurance given by the Centre, the deputy chief minister said that the matter is yet to be discussed as the recently held meeting was only a consultation process before re-introducing the CAB in Parliament.
“We from the state delegation have decided to wait and watch. Let us see first the content of the CAB which will be made official after placing it in Parliament,†he said.
On the other hand, Tynsong said that the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 approved by the state Cabinet recently will be applicable in the entire state.
“I hope this will help to a great extent in safeguarding the interest of the state and its people,†he said adding that in addition to this, the state already has in place the Meghalaya Land Transfer Act.
Meanwhile, the deputy chief minister also informed that the Centre has decided to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) throughout the country to ensure no illegal immigrants enter the states especially in the case of Meghalaya, which is sharing a long border with Bangladesh.
