The Shillong Times - Established 1945

SHILLONG, March 21: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday dismissed allegations that the state government had done nothing to prevent illegal mining and transportation of coal. He said his government is not sitting idle on the issue and mentioned that over 2,000 cases have been registered and the police have been asked to maintain proper vigil. “Altogether 1,701 cases have been registered against illegal transportation and close to 203 cases against illegal mining,” Sangma told the House during the discussion on the…

State govt revises JJM deadline to April 2024 By Our Reporter SHILLONG, March 21: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday admitted in the Assembly that the state government could not complete the implementation of the centrally-funded Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the state by December 2022, but he sounded confident that the target of 100% implementation would be achieved by the end of the next financial year (March 2024). “We were unable to meet the 2022 target but it does not mean that we have fallen short. We are…

SHILLONG, March 21: Santa Mary Shylla, the first-time MLA from the coal-rich area of Sutnga Saipung, on Tuesday said that the NGT ban on coal mining has tremendously impacted the life of people in her constituency who are teetering on the brink of poverty. In her maiden speech in the Assembly, the NPP MLA pointed out that a large number of people in East Jaintia Hills depend directly or indirectly on coal for income. Since the ban, trade activities have also been severely impacted since the ban has curtailed the…

SHILLONG, March 21: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday told the Assembly that there is no quick-fix solution to education as it is one of the most complex departments in the state. The complexity has increased with political issues connected to it, he said. “We realised in the last five years that education is the most complex department in our state because of the manner in which different systems were created to resolve certain problems in a piecemeal manner,” Sangma said in his reply to the discussion on the…

SHILLONG, March 21: The VPP’s Nongkrem legislator, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit has questioned the delay in initiating the CBI inquiry into the Mukroh killings as was agreed upon by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. Taking part in the general discussion on the Governor’s address on the second day of the Assembly budget session, Basaiawmoit said there is no information about the status of such a CBI inquiry. “From what is visible on the ground, there was no CBI inquiry. Is this because the Central government does not want to…

SHILLONG, March 21: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday reiterated that Mukroh is very much within Meghalaya and there is no doubt about it. He produced data from government records to cement his claim. Responding to a query from VPP legislator Ardent Basaiawmoit on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent claims that Mukroh is in Assam, the CM said based on the census code (279192), Mukroh village is under the jurisdiction of West Jaintia Hills District and it is listed as having a VEC under the MGNREGA…

SHILLONG, March 21: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday conveniently brushed aside demands from the opposition bench for an Assembly resolution to ask the Centre to take cognizance of the irregularities and corruption and investigate the same, saying that the MDA Government had faced its biggest “Agnipariksha” (trial by fire) during the Assembly elections and passed with flying colours. Replying to a short-duration discussion on the critical remark by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that Meghalaya was the most corrupt…