Kolkata: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma inaugurated the newly-constructed Meghalaya House at Russel Street, Kolkata, at a glittering function held here on Monday evening.
The inauguration was attended by former Chief Minister and Chief Adviser to the Government of Meghalaya DD Lapang, Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh, other Cabinet ministers of the State, dignitaries from West Bengal including Tourism Minister Rajpal Singh, Member of Parliament Moon Moon Sen, Consul-Generals from various countries and invited guests from Meghalaya as well as Kolkata.
The State PWD had taken over the House from the construction agency, M/s Asian Housing and Infrastructure Pvt. Limited (AHIPL) in August, 2013.
Delivering the inaugural address, the Chief Minister said that the asset will help provide the people of the State to connect with the people of West Bengal, of the country and rest of the world.
Stating that Meghalaya is known for many things and has many things to offer, the Chief Minister informed the gathering about rich mythological stories associated with the State and ecological diversities, besides the presence of a number of natural wonders, adding that the intension of the State is to create many more positive stories.
Terming Meghalaya and the North East as a whole as the catchment area of potential boys and girls who are good in certain things, Sangma said, “this is the reason why we see more and more young boys and girls coming out of the region in search of better opportunities.”
Going back in time the Chief Minister recalled when the people of Meghalaya including the founder-Chief Minister Capt. WA Sangma used to come to Kolkata for their education and said that people of the State have a special connect and share a natural bond with the people of the region.
“We want to have more and more (Contd from P-1) programmes to connect with the people and the rest of the world on a sustained basis,” he said and invited the people to come and explore the untrodded parts of the State. He also lamented that the North East has been perceived as conflict zone because the positive things happening around were not captured since the media portrayed only the negative side of the region in their news.
“There are conflict areas, problem pockets in every state or country and the need of the hour is to capture positive things. Let Meghalaya House be a source for connecting with the rest of the country through the people of Kolkata,” he said and called upon the corporate bodies in the city to look at the State and the North East for partnership, saying there are a lot of opportunities for mutual commercial interest that can effectively contribute towards progress and development.
The Meghalaya House has three blocks – Block I which includes a basement plus ground plus five structure comprising of a commercial block with a total built-up area of 80,950 sq.ft.; Block II which includes ground plus five structure with a total built-up area of 41,364 sq.ft. comprising of the guest house and the office block with the reception area, estate office, dining room, eight numbers of double bedded ordinary rooms, 19 numbers of double bedded VIP rooms, one VVIP suite and two dormitories, while Block III comprises of a ground plus five structure, service block for support staff with a total built-up area of 15,006 sq. ft. comprising of 12 staff quarters, two officers’ quarters, one dormitory and drivers’ rest room.
The Meghalaya House will not only provide additional accommodation to the visitors from the State travelling to Kolkata, but can also be utilized for various outside-the-State activities and important meetings that take place in the city.
Lapang, who had laid the foundation stone for the building during his tenure as Chief Minister, GAD Minister HDR Lyngdoh and Principal Secretary, GAD, PW Ingty also spoke on the occasion.
Later, a cultural programme ‘the Abode of the Clouds’ was presented by the youths from various parts of Meghalaya adding colour to the inaugural event. (DIPR)
