From Ronald Syiem
NONGSTOIN: The aspirations of people of West Khasi Hills are plenty as they prepare to choose their MP to represent Shillong Lok Sabha seat.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, Harnes Lyngdoh, an employed youth of Nongstoin, said in West Khasi Hills there are many things to be done as the district has no infrastructure compared to other districts in the state.
He also said the district has no developmental activities in terms of education, road connectivity and healthcare.
“When we talk about health sector in West Khasi Hills, there is partial improvement compared to last five years and the doctors in Nongstoin Civil Hospital have reached out to the people but the duty is too heavy for them. In rural areas, the health infrastructure has not improved,” Lyngdoh said.
The population is growing day by day but the service provided by the CHCs and PHCs as well as the sub-centres is no longer satisfactory. Some health centres have no doctors and there is a shortage of medicines. With the growing population, there is a need to upgrade all health centres, he said.
While healthcare ailing, the road to development remains broken. Willbest Nongrum, a resident of Upper New Nongstoin, said, “The people of the district face a lot of problems related to road connectivity, Though people are relieved after the completion of NH44 E, the road connectivity in general is not satisfactory.”
The 2 km stretch from the national highway is turning from bad to worse, he added.
According to Nongrum, many approach roads in villages are in bad condition as they were left out for many decades. An economically important road like Nongstoin-Maweit is dilapidated and a similar road from Nongstoin-Rambrai-Kyrshai is yet to see the light of the day.
In this context, voters expect the new MP to address varied problems in the district and especially the youths of the district have great expectations from the candidates.
A majority of the youths are educated but have to earn their livelihood as daily wagers as jobs are limited. “In every election, political parties speak about the need to bring about a change. Elections come and go but there is no change and no political party does what it promises. We have been fooled many times,” Sistina Marwein, a resident of Pariong, said.
She also said as wise voters, people should understand the political scenario in the country before they cast their “precious votes”.
“We have to vote for a person who can definitely be in power at the Centre because if our representative is always in the Opposition, he cannot do anything for the state and the districts,” Marwein said, adding, “If in the Assembly and Council polls, we can effect change after we lost faith in public representatives, we can also do the same in the Lok Sabha polls.”
Post timber-coal ban
In West Khasi Hills district, people had a tough time when the ban on timber was enforced in 1994 affecting more than 70 per cent of the total population. The coal mining in 2014 has also brought further miseries.
Modelity Marbaniang, who sells fish in Nongstoin market, said the market is no longer vibrant compared to the past and people are depressed after coal mining, which was the main source of income, was banned.
When asked whether she will cast her vote on April 11, she said as an Indian citizen, she will have to perform her duty to choose any candidate she wishes.
There is scope to consider tourism sector as a new source of income in West Khasi Hills after the ban on coal mining and timber.
“As far as tourist spots are concerned, Sohra in East Khasi Hills and several areas of West Khasi Hills are not different but the government has not focused on West Khasi Hills. We have the second largest river island in Asia and there are too many places which attract people from outside the state but there is no one to motivate people to take up tourism projects,” Porbansuk, a local youth, said.
Porbansuk pointed out that a group of people in the district became successful after venturing into tourism sector but poor road connectivity has dampened the spirit.
Local youths pointed out that the state government has set up the office of the Tourism Department in Nongstoin but till date, there are no activities.
“To encourage the youths, the government should have motivated them to focus on new ideas and programmes but there are no such programmes which are being organised by the department,” he added.
The representative, in order to solve the economic crisis in West Khasi Hills, will have to find a way so that people can survive through tourism, which is the last resort here.
MP schemes
After this correspondent followed up on MP schemes, it was found that there was only one MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme in Nongstoin. This was for the construction of the office of Syiem, Hima Nongstoin, for which Vincent H Pala gave Rs 30 lakh during his first term as an MP.
In other constituencies, he only provided some assistance to schools and there were not many important works taken up during his two-term tenure as MP of Lok Sabha.
It was also reported that Pala had promised to provide assistance to many educational institutions but failed to live up to his word.
Deficiencies
The West Khasi Hills has a lot of deficiencies in terms of development and infrastructure compared to other districts.
According to a research by this correspondent, it was found that the District Institute of Educational Training (DIET) in Nongstoin has only 50 seats till date whereas there are thousands of applicants.
The Education Department has not done anything to improve infrastructure. The institute can increase the number of seats but there is no infrastructure.
It was also found that there are many deficiencies in Sib Singh Memorial Government Higher Secondary School.
The school’s science laboratory does not have adequate facilities.
The district does not have a government college. Students from economically backward families pay a huge amount of money for getting admission in private colleges.
As per the assurance of the government, Nongstoin will get one community college but this has remained a dream.
An associate professor said if Nongstoin gets a community college, this will bring relief to the poor students.
The associate professor also said NEHU should have an extension centre for its courses in Nongstoin, which is the headquarters of West Khasi Hills, to improve the quality of education.
Skill development courses and vocational courses can also be introduced.
Arkinshngain Sohshangrit, an engineering student, said to choose an MP to represent the people at the Centre is not a joke.
“We have been fooled for many decades as we chose an MP who only earned his salaries and enjoyed the facilities provided by the government but nothing has been done,” Sohshangrit rued.
The MP of Shillong has not raised his voice about the employment crisis in the state.
He should have spoken about the policies for youths in the state and this time, we need an MP who understands the hardships of the people, the young voter said.
He added that to solve the crisis of unemployment in the district, the MP should have looked into other avenues “as we know that it is difficult to get government jobs”.
A representative should urge the Centre to create various industries.
The MP should also explore implementation of various schemes to provide jobs for bettering the economic condition of the district.
Water scarcity
Water scarcity is a concern in West Khasi Hills, especially in Nongstoin.
Steffi Valarie Thongni, a resident of Nongstoin town, said, “The PHE had taken initiatives for water supply in all villages in Nongstoin area but the pipes are running dry.”
She said people in the town usually get water only once a day and some villages get only one or two buckets of water per day.
The PHE Department has implemented the Nongstoin Urban Water Supply Scheme (NUWSS) in 2013 with a cost of Rs 133 crore.
The Kolkata-based Tantia Company took up the construction work but till date, the water project has not been completed. She hoped that with the completion of the NUWSS, water crisis will be solved in Nongstoin and 19 villages under it.