Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on September 26 (Monday) said that the question of repealing the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 does not arise at all.

Addressing a press conference, the CM said that the Act was brought primarily to put a stop to gaming parlors that were functioning without licenses. “These need to be regulated whether we start new ones or not, the old ones need to be regulated,” he said.

Conrad also mentioned that the new regulations will also stop locals from playing, while it will boost the state’s revenue and attract foreigners and tourists to visit the territory.

“So it is precisely achieving the objective which everybody wants that local youth should not be allowed to play. So this is actually exactly achieving what the people or the different organizations have been asking for, hence, the question of repealing does not arise because this is an act that is required to regulate the existing games and also regulate the people who are playing in these different areas,” Sangma said.

“The question comes about starting new areas of gaming which we have clearly mentioned that government is not going to go ahead with any of that and only after deep consultation with all stakeholders will we decide on the way forward,” he added.

The CM reiterated that the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 was also passed by all 60 legislators. “It is an Act and obviously all the MLAs and the ruling side and everybody was part of this,” he said.

It must be noted that the Meghalaya government has been receiving flak from the opposition party as they want the ruling government to repeal the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021. However, the ruling government has stated that apart from increasing the revenue in the state, the new act will also create employment opportunities for the locals.