From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma, who completed two years in office recently, has exuded confidence that Congress would come back to power in the coming assembly polls which is less than a year away.
Speaking to newspersons here before his departure for Shillong on Tuesday, Dr Sangma said in the past two years lots of developmental work have taken place in the hill state. “The state has not only generated its own resources but also received the highest amount of funds from the Centre,” he said.
Giving one specific example, Dr Sangma said this year’s annual plan allocation for Meghalaya was 44 per cent higher than the previous one. “This was possible because the Government has performed well and utilized the funds timely and properly,” he said.
“We have tried our best and lots of development work has been taken up in the state,” Dr Sangma, who took over the reins from DD Lapang, said.
“Because of our performance the party would come back to power may be with more strength,” he added.
The Chief Minister mentioned about the ambitious state flagship Integrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion Programme, conceived by him. Expressing confidence that this will be a ‘people’s programme’, he said, institutionalization of the action plan would ensure an efficient delivery mechanism.
But the Chief Minister was not very happy at the portrayal of North East as a disturbed place. “There are some pockets of violence but you cannot paint the entire region with the same brush,” he said.
“This wrong portrayal has eluded big ticket investment in the region, the Chief Minister lamented. “Today’s North East is not what it was a few years ago,” he said.
Pointing out that the entire North East had been a ‘victim of Partition’, Dr Sangma emphasized on the need to strengthen trade and commerce links with the neighbouring countries. “The per capita income in the region which is less than national average today was even higher before partition of the country,” he said.
All the Chief Ministers are trying to upset this trend and bring back the past glory by opening up their borders with neighbouring countries, first with Bangladesh then with Myanmar, he said. There will be regional investment meetings where Bangladesh will also participate, he said.
He cited the example of the meeting of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh along with the Chief Ministers of the region with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh recently. There was some improvement in bilateral relations between India and Myanmar after Dr Singh visited the country, he said.
Improvement in relations with Bangladesh is a real game changer, Dr Sangma said adding that already ‘we have seen the benefits of the first two border haats in improving people to people contact and contributing to the economic well being of people on both sides’. Negotiations are already underway for a comprehensive transport protocol for allowing vehicles from either side into each other’s territory, he said.
“From Meghalaya’s perspective we want to invest in improving our internal waterways to Bangladesh and promote cross border investments,” he said. Bangladesh has strengths in readymade garments, in fresh juices and other industries and we are good in many other industries which Bangladesh needs, Sangma added.
“Bangladesh also has the Chittagong port which is in fact the nearest port for all of us in the North East. We have already proposed a transit route to Chittagong,” he said.
Dr Sangma who returned from an internationals security meet at London said that safety and development go hand in hand. No investor will be encouraged to come to the region if there is no guarantee about investment, he said.