TURA: The Central Governing Body (CGB) of the A’chik Youth Welfare Organization (AYWO) in Tura has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma urging him to look into several demands with regard to Garo Hills.
Stating that the Garo tribe is the largest among other tribes in the state with some from the community also residing in Bangladesh, Assam, Tripura and West Bengal, the organization urged that the Garo language is included in the 8th schedule of the constitution.
Reminding of the incident that took place on September 30 in 2005, in which 9 people protesting the alleged bi-furcation of the MBOSE were mercilessly gunned by police in Tura and Williamnagar, it proposed that the day is declared as local or restricted holiday in Garo Hills.
The organization reminded of the assurance given to agitating NGOs by the earlier Congress led Government to set up a comprehensive mechanism to deter influx and urged the speedy setting up of entry and exit points.
Pointing out that the number of unemployed educated youth registered with the employment exchange of the labour department in different districts of the state had already gone up to over 39,000 by June 2006, the organization urged the government to find a solution to the problem at the earliest.
With regard to healthcare, the organization demanded the setting up of two blood bank centres in Tura and one each in each of the five districts of Garo Hills.
The organization condemned the innumerable errors made in the recently provided MBOSE textbooks and urged the concerned department and the government to immediately rectify the issue.
Other demands made by the organization in the memorandum included the establishment of a National Eligibility Test (NET) Exam Centre, Meghalaya Civil Service (MCS) coaching centre in each district of Garo Hills and an NIA probe into the recent cold blooded murder of NCP candidate from Williamnagar, Jonathone N Sangma.