Meghalaya chief secretary MS Rao on Monday had a discussion with representatives of the Shillong All Faiths Forum (SAFF) regarding the revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for re-opening of religious places.
They discussed the measures including limiting the number of people entering the places of worship when they are re-opened
During the discussion, chief secretary Rao informed the forum that a decision in this regard would be taken within a week.
The chief secretary is the chairman of a sub-committee formed to further revise the SOPs for re-opening of places of worship in the state along with members of the Shillong All Faiths Forum.
“The forum shared some documents requesting minor changes to the SOPs and the state government will examine the documents and get back to them,” the chief secretary told reporters.
“We are meeting again in the next two to three days. We will finalise the SOP on re-opening of places of worship within this week,” he added.
Rao said during the meeting, chaired by chief minister Conrad K Sangma recently, it was tentatively agreed that the places of worship would re-open in the first week of October if the situation improves.
“That decision was a tentative one, and we will see how the situation is in the last week of September,” the chief secretary said.
On the decision of the Khasi Jaiñtia Presbyterian Assembly (KJPA) to go ahead with the reopening of churches in October, Rao said he was not aware of such a statement, though he hoped that all citizens will abide by the SOP and government orders.