IMPHAL, August 13: Stating that the government wants more suggestions from Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) on the proposed draft bill to safeguard the indigenous people from the unchecked influx of outsiders into the State, deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam has made a fervent appeal to the representatives of JCILPS to join the next round of talk on August 16 evening.
In a statement issued to the media today, Gaikhangam who also holds the portfolio of Home maintained that the government is trying to pass a bill acceptable to the people in the Assembly within this month.
He asserted that the second round of talks between the government and JCILPS on August 12 was fruitful from the government perspective as a copy of the draft bill already prepared by the government was made available to the representatives of the committee during the talk.
Exclusion and inclusion of points in the draft bill were discussed during the talk but unfortunately any consensus on the draft bill could not be reached due to short duration of the talk, he said.
Acknowledging the cooperation of the committee in preparing a new bill acceptable to all sections of the people, the deputy CM admitted that the government was putting earnest efforts to pass a bill within August 15.
The government constituted Drafting Committee had submitted its draft bill to the government on August 3. The government was waiting for submission of a detailed draft from the side of JCILPS though the committee submitted a memorandum clearly mentioning all the points to be included in the proposed draft bill on August 10, Gaikhangam elaborated.
He assured that efforts are being put in to ensure that all the points adopted during a public convention held recently are included in the proposed draft bill.
The Dy CM in the statement reiterated that the Assembly had passed resolution on two occasions to implement the Inner Line Permit System in the State like in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland but the Centre rejected it.