Four ITIs in State to have permanent buildings
Minister for Labour Ampareen Lyngdoh on Thursday asserted that the state government had received funds for construction of permanent campuses for the four ITIs in Meghalaya located at Sohra, Nongpoh, Nongstoin and Resubelpara.
Replying to a query from Leader of Opposition Donkupar Roy, Lyngdoh said order for construction of the permanent building for Resubelpara ITI has already been issued while construction is expected to start shortly at Sohra ITI with the first installment of funds being released by the department.
Lyngdoh, however, mentioned that funds have been received for the Nongstoin ITI but hurdles in land acquisition would slow down the implementation of the project.
With regards to the Nongpoh ITI, the minister said that 4.27 acres of land had been identified for construction of the permanent building but land acquisition was proving to be a hurdle. She, however, added that the Ri Bhoi Deputy Commissioner had been instructed to take necessary steps to acquire the land at the earliest.
MUDA permission must for building construction
Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Thursday affirmed that prior permission from the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) would be necessary for construction of buildings within the Shillong Master Plan area.
According to Lyngdoh, MUDA had earlier faced lot of resistance from the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, but the state government has now taken a firm decision to implement the Building Byelaw in spirit, Lyngdoh said, while informing that a total of 57 applications were being processed by MUDA.
She further stated that production of the building permission from MUDA was a must for availing housing loans from banks.
Earlier, UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh had emphasized the need to link the building permission from MUDA to the safety of citizens and had stressed on the need for awareness campaigns in this regard.
NPP MLA terms IBDLP as a failure
Dadenggre legislator James Sangma (NPP) on Thursday termed the much-hyped Integrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion (IBDLP) as a total failure.
Moving a motion in this regard, Sangma alleged that there was poor implementation of the programme in the state and pointed out that the reality was that IBDLP had failed to address the issue of livelihood.
“On the ground there is no real development,” Sangma said while stating that the programme was just a duplication of all the schemes with a convergence of all the departments.
Sangma also claimed that all the Cabinet ministers were working hard for the project but all the credit was being usurped by the Chief Minister.
The discussion, however, remained inconclusive.
5104 SSA schools in State: Laloo
Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Education R.C. Laloo on Thursday informed that there were 5104 schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Meghalaya.
Replying to a question from Independent legislator Saleng Sangma, Laloo said there were 2881 primary schools and 2223 upper primary schools under the SSA.
Laloo asserted that necessary facilities were being provided in all the SSA schools and further assured that he was willing to look into the matter if there were any complaints on this front.
‘Mawlai dispensary an insult to Nehru’
Leader of Opposition Donkupar Roy termed it as an insult that a dispensary named in memory of India’s first Prime Minister late Jawaharlal Nehru should still run from a ‘rented house’.
The Opposition leader was reacting to the reply of Health and Family Welfare Minister A.L. Hek who informed that the Nehru Memorial State dispensary at Mawlai Nongpdeng was functioning from a rented place.
“The state government should take steps to see that the dispensary has a permanent building with adequate number of doctors and staff to give better service to the people of the area,” Roy said.
Earlier, UDP legislator Embhah Syiemlieh expressed disappointment over the matter and called for an increase in the number of doctors and staff to serve the over 16000 people of the area.
The current strength of the dispensary is five which includes a doctor and a nurse.
In his reply, Hek said that the government will examine the possibility of increasing the manpower in the dispensary besides considering the suggestion for a permanent building for the dispensary.