Shillong: Meghalaya Assembly Speaker, Methbah Lyngdoh on Monday urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to reconsider setting up casinos in the state owing to opposition from church leaders and social organisations.
“There is widespread apprehension and displeasure from across political leaders, religious leaders and NGOs of the state on the government’s decision to set up casinos,” Lyngdoh noted in a letter to the Chief Minister.
He added, “I am also of the opinion that the views and concerns raised by the church body should be taken seriously by the government in the interest of the general public of the state.”
In view of the concerns raised by the church and social organisations, Lyngdoh urged the government to review its decision to establish casinos.
The state government has enacted the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had ruled out scrapping the Act saying that the legislation seeks to prevent local people from the ill effects of gaming.
Sangma said the government will not set up casinos in the state, even as he informed that the provisional licenses which were recently issued to three casinos would lapse within a stipulated time as the state government no longer intends to further process their paperwork.
