TURA: Former Union minister of state and NPP candidate Agatha K Sangma said on Tuesday Meghalaya has failed on all fronts despite attaining statehood over 46 years ago.
The young politician, while enumerating the failures of different government sectors, stressed the need for an active legislator to reverse the trend of underdevelopment in Tura.
“Even though we attained our statehood over 46 years ago we have not witnessed the kind of development we deserve. The state has failed in all sectors, be it health, education or infrastructure. Roads, hospitals and schools are in extremely poor condition in both rural and urban areas. I want to change that,” said the youngest daughter of late Purno A Sangma.
“Tura needs an active and able legislator to reverse the trend of underdevelopment,” she added while giving an insight into her decision to return to state politics after having spent close to eight years in Delhi’s corridors of power. She observed that the 2018 election was crucial for the state.
The former Tura MP said she wanted to be part of the new government that “has a positive agenda and a vision for our state”. She said the NPP would ensure concrete development, “which is precisely the reason I chose to come back to politics and serve the people of my state”.
Despite two heavyweights pitted against her, sitting MLA John Leslee K Sangma of the NCP and former MLA Billykid A Sangma of the BJP, Agatha appears unfazed.
“I was fortunate to be a member of Parliament at a young age and a central minister and during that tenure, I met a cross-section of people in different parts of the country, besides travelling a lot to learn new things. I believe my experience will help me in my quest to transform Tura,” a confident Agatha said. She put forward a string of issues which, according to her, is a cause for major concern for the people of Tura town.
“Water crisis is a serious problem and the polluting of our water bodies has compounded the problem further. There is no proper waste management in the town and the use of plastic is a serious health hazard. We urgently need to have a proper waste disposal and segregation of garbage and the government has to invest in rainwater harvesting to contain the water crisis. Tura has to become the ‘hub’ of entire Garo Hills,” Agatha said.
The former MP has stated that the annual allotment of MLA scheme worth Rs 2 crore is inadequate for the development of a large urban centre like Tura town. “This scheme is not enough to develop Tura, we have to find appropriate schemes to integrate for development purposes,” she added.
