By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: With fresh reports that the HNLC are indulging in extortion and other criminal activities, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma has stated that the Government would continue with its zero tolerance policy on any kind of criminal activities whether it is the militant outfits or the surrendered militants.
“There is no room for complacency and I would call upon the State Police and the Security Forces to continue to be vigilant and ensure the safety and security of our people,” Dr Sangma said while speaking at a function to observe the celebrations of the 65th Independence Day here on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister however called upon all the misguided youth who had taken up arms to leave the path of violence and join the fight against hunger and poverty rather than play into the hands of anti-national elements and foreign inimical forces.
Stating that the overall law and order situation in the State has remained stable during the recent months, the Chief Minister however said that the activities of banned militant outfits such as GNLA continue to be a cause of serious concern.
While reminding the courage displayed by the people of Garo Hills earlier this year when they came out boldly and in large numbers to defy the bandh calls given by the outfit. Dr Sangma said, “I consider this as a watershed event in our history of fighting insurgency in the State and I congratulate our people for taking a tough and bold stand against militancy, as a result of which the outfit was forced to call off their bandh. I firmly believe that it is the strong will of the people that will enable the Government in eradicating the menace of insurgency from the State”.
He opined that if a fully professional, impartial and honest police service is to be built in Meghalaya, it is imperative that the recruitment process is totally insulated from extraneous interferences or subjective considerations.
“Towards this end, the State Government has drawn up a new recruitment policy based on automated testing methods, to ensure transparency and efficiency in recruitment to these forces,” Dr. Sangma informed.
With regard to development, Chief Minister said, ”Inadequate development is also seen in terms of poor human development indicators, and significant inter-district difference in per capita district development product. This underlines the need to rework the strategy not only to accelerate growth but also to make it participatory and inclusive.”
He also informed that during the 11th Plan, as the nation grew at an average rate of 7.9% per annum, Meghalaya also benefited and grew at the rate of 9.1% per annum. In spite of growing faster than the national average, the per capita income in Meghalaya was lower than the national average by about 11%.
“Catching up with the rest of the country and bridging these gaps continue to be an unfinished agenda of the State for the 12th Plan,” the Chief Minister informed.
“Based on the Meghalaya Vision 2020 document, the 12th Plan of the State will focus on three broad areas: harnessing the State’s natural resources for sustainable livelihoods, expanding and strengthening the infrastructural base and building capacity among the people,” said Dr. Sangma.
While pointing out that another major resource in the State that will be harnessed for development is its power potential, Dr Sangma said that proper harnessing of its potential would result in generating surplus power which could be sold to neighbouring regions, which are power deficit.
Apart from being a pre-requisite for attracting investment to the State, he said that the increased availability of power has externalities across sectors, especially agriculture. It will help the state in developing modern storage and warehousing facilities especially in the light of our strategy to focus on horticulture, floriculture and organic farming during the 12th Plan.
“Education and skill development will be the cornerstone of development in the Twelfth Plan, as these enhance people’s productivity and employability,” Dr. Sangma informed
In the field of education, the State Government will be setting up at least one residential school in each block and hostels for students at district headquarters to facilitate quality education.
To ensure availability of trained teachers, the Chief Minister said that the youth who are aiming to become teachers are being provided with scholarships of Rs 5000 for pursuing Diploma in teaching for Elementary Education.
“Steps for provincialization of all the deficit Primary Schools are also being initiated which will go a long way in addressing the grievances of the teachers of this category of schools,” he said while adding that steps for provincialisation of at least one college in each of the district has already been initiated.
“The Chief Minister’s Career Guidance and Counseling Scheme for providing coaching for students who are preparing for Union Civil Services and other exams including coaching for entrance exams for various courses is being initiated from this year,” he said.
With regard to information and technology, Dr Sangma said that in order to facilitate prompt dissemination of information to the masses about the schemes and programmes of the Government, and also to enable people to register their grievances promptly, the Government has implemented the “Wireless Mass Notification System”.
Improving the connectivity within the State, region and with the rest of the country is a key to prosperity and growth, he said that development in the State has been hampered by the lack of physical connectivity.
“The roads have been in dire need of maintenance and repair, strengthening, widening, and in general bringing them up to the mark to meet the demands of the modern economy and society is absolutely vital,” Dr. Sangma opined.
“Investment for providing appropriate platform for the youth of the State to grasp diverse opportunities with a special focus to bring out talents of the state in these fields of art, culture, music and sports is our of our identified priorities. To promote Shillong as a centre for art and culture, we propose to develop an International Centre for Performing Arts here.
This would be a multi-purpose cultural centre where international level events of performing arts would be organised. Similarly, at the district level, the District Cultural Centres would be set up, with state-of-the-art auditoriums and other facilities,” Dr Sangma informed.
As part of the day’s celebrations, a march past was also organised. Several schools of Shillong besides contingents from the armed forces participated in this march past.