By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Union Minister for Defence, AK Antony, on Sunday said the Government will take all measures to root out militancy from Meghalaya and other parts of the North East region.
“Militancy must be eliminated from this beautiful land,” Antony said while addressing a public meeting to campaign for the Congress at Oakland here on Sunday afternoon.
The mantra of the Congress is development and the party wants inclusive development for the entire population of Meghalaya, Antony said.
The Union Minister, while pointing out to the growing crime against women in the country, said that Meghalaya is leading the way in the entire country when it comes to respect for women.
“Society in Meghalaya is the number one civilized society in the country as the highest respect is given to women here,” he added.
Reiterating that people who commit heinous crimes against women will have to pay for them, Antony said the Government is coming out with more stringent laws in this regard.
He also stated that the Government will pass the Food Security Bill in the Parliament.
Referring to the Congress manifesto in the State, the Union Minister assured that the Congress, after coming to power, will provide one lakh private jobs and ten thousand Government jobs to the people of the State in the next five years.
“UPA and the State Government must work together to lead the State. We have to give basic needs to the people,” Antony said, while asserting that more national institutions will be set up here in due course of time.
Upholding the view that every Indian citizen has the right to live in any part of the country, Antony said that the Congress stood for secularism and no one would be allowed to divide the people on the basis of caste and religion.