With elections just around the corner, the people of Mawlai are raising their expectations high; hoping for a new dawn to break in vis-à-vis developmental activities which they think is still lagging behind.
The Shillong Times interviewed a cross-section of residents of Mawlai seeking their views and opinions on the needs of the hour, the drawbacks of the constituency and the expectations from their representative.
When asked about the immediate need, the residents voiced out similar points stating that youth empowerment and development in all spheres is the need of the hour besides other related issues and challenges.
Liaison officer of NSS, Dr H Niangrai of Mawlai Mawiong said if elected, a representative should focus on youth empowerment keeping in mind, the problem of unemployment besides bringing about a well-planned development in terms of infrastructure in the constituency.
“A representative should be able to enhance skill development programmes for the local youth and generate employment to raise the economic income of the people and adopt fair means in choosing the beneficiaries for different schemes”, he said. Echoing same views, a housewife from Mawlai Mawroh Wanhun Mawiong said though Mawlai has developed in some way or the other, yet there is still more left to be done from roads to water supply.
Talking about security of the women and children, Mawiong said “There are areas having no street lights at all thereby posing a great threat to the people especially the women and children as these dark lanes are often known as the hang-out place of many drug addicts and alcoholics.”
Meanwhile, a staff of NEIGRIHMS (name withheld on request) said what the people needs is employment other than water supply and better roads and footpaths. “It’s sad to see that some educated youth end up sitting at home with no employment. So when any candidate gets elected, one foremost issue that should be focused is generation of employment”, she said.
On the same note, a teacher by profession, I Lyngdoh of Mawlai Phudmuri rued the fact that during the past few years, it was noticed that when any schemes is announced; only the privileged and those closely related to the MLA gets the much needed help, however, the people in general, the poor and the downtrodden are left behind.
“What I think every candidate should keep in mind while contesting an election is to fulfill what they had once promised and deliver fair and transparent service to the people to gain their trust”, she said adding that at present, nepotism seems to be the order of the day.
When it comes to development, the teacher said that development should be one-sided and should not be focused on one area but the same should penetrate to the corner areas and villages which are far from the main Mawlai.
Besides looking into the supply of dirty drinking water to the people, the elected representative should also focus on skill development programme for the unemployed youth, both educated and uneducated youth.
“Different sectors should be given equal attention like music, art, craft and the likes to boost the confidence of the youth and in return increase employment opportunity”, she asserted.
Introspecting the opinions and views of some of the people of Mawlai Constituency, it is noticed that there is still so much left to be done, things which were left unattended by the former representatives.
Stressing on the will power of the candidate, the people were of the view that it is high time, the candidates’ starts analyzing the basic needs and requirements rather than making false promises which bears no good fruits at the end of the day.
“We need a fresh start, a new beginning, a change, a reform to ensure a better future for the generations to come”, said Lyngdoh.