Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday informed that the state government has decided to halt the process of setting up casinos in the state.

He however said that the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act and Rules, which was passed last year won’t be repealed.

“We have given instruction to stop any further process to happen, but the processes that happen before that order was given, those processes are there, hence the decision that we have taken and the communication that we have made to everybody is we are not going to move any further than where we are,” the Sangma said.

It may be mentioned that several groups including Church leaders condemned the state government’s decision to set up casinos in the state.

Morevoer, the government had granted temporary licences to three firms for operating on-premises casinos to promote niche tourism in the state.

These provisional licenses are however going to to automatically lapse after a certain time is gone, he said.

“Those provisional licenses are going to automatically lapse after a certain time is gone,” he added.