TURA: Residents of at least three villages in Bajengdoba in North Garo Hills have earmarked land for the State government to establish a community and rural development (C&RD) block.
Though the government has not announced any decision for the establishment of a new block in North Garo Hills, village elders from Line A’ding, Upper and Lower Bajengdoba villages jointly earmarked 20 bighas for donation.
The demand for a block in Bajengdoba has been on for a long time as the district has only two blocks. While Kharkutta block caters to the eastern region, Resubelpara block covers the entire northern and western belts, including Bajengdoba, which is 12km from Resubelpara. The two blocks cater to a population of 1.6 lakh.
The villagers, who had also petitioned Chief Minister Mukul Sangma through local MLA Brigady Marak last month, held a meeting at Rongbang playground on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner S.C Sadhu, SP M.G.R Kumar, Marak and the Resubelpara BDO attended the meeting. The district administration inspected the land.
The block in Bajengdoba will cover 185 villages under 15 gram sevak circles and a population of 54,152 as per the 2010 census. Also, 350 self-help groups have been proposed for the new block.
The area currently has three higher secondary, 10 secondary, 56 upper primary and 170 lower primary schools. There are four primary health centres (PHCs), four SDO offices of various departments, three banks, a police station and an anti-dacoity camp.
