Meghalaya government on Thursday announced that it was scrapping the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, yielding to the pressure from church leaders and social organisations. The act was introduced last year to promote setting up of casinos and other gambling parlours in the state.

Taking to Twitter, Taxation Minister James PK Sangma said that the decision was taken in the best interest of the state and its people.

“Following meetings with stakeholders, it became clear to me that it is in the best interest of our state to completely scrap the Act. Therefore, it will be my earnest endeavour to see that the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021, will be repealed,” he wrote

Over the months, concerns were raised by various parts of the society about the scope and impact of the act, the minister said, maintaining that he tried to understand the concerns of the public and the impact law could have further on.

The taxation minister stated that the gaming act was meant to boost “revenue, tourism & employment”.

“The Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021, was introduced under my guidance, to legalise and regulate gaming. Introducing casinos meant for tourists only was considered too,” he stated.

Church leaders had been petitioning the government to repeal the Act, claiming that it was “immoral” and comes at a “high price” for the society.

According to Census 2011, Christians constitute approximately 74.59% (2.21 million) of the state’s population.

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who is also the younger brother of the taxation minister, currently heads a central government-appointed Group of Ministers (GoM) on casinos, race courses and online gaming.

Conrad had earlier said that its intention was to regulate the existing gaming parlours to generate revenue for the state, while hinting that the government could generate Rs 500 crore as revenue annually through the provisions of the Act.