New building of Rangku Memoria Girls school inaugurated
TURA: The only major government referral hospital in the southern most district of Garo Hills is finally getting a face-lift with a major expansion project to cater to the growing number of patients as Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday laid the foundation for the extension of a new building complex for the Baghmara Civil Hospital in the presence of Health Minister A.L. Hek, Govt Chief Whip Marcuise Marak, Siju Rongara MLA Rakkam A. Sangma, Baghmara MLA Samuel Sangma and other senior dignitaries in the district headquarters of South Garo Hills.
Laying the foundation for the additional building for the 100-bedded Hospital, the Chief Minister reminded the gathering that, “It has been the commitment of the Government to give special attention to areas, which has remained neglected. South Garo Hills is one of the districts that has been accorded thrust so that the region can catch up with the pace of development with other districts of the State.”
The chief minister spent two days in South Garo Hills district and also visited the tourism site at Siju, also.
He announced that health has been given a major priority in this year’s state budget and the Government would ensure that measures are taken to improve the existing health infrastructure and facilities across the State.
Health Minister A.L. Hek in his address to the public at the event said that the project will be completed within the stipulated time of 24 months. He also expressed dissatisfaction on delay of projects and assured the people that this Government will ensure that the projects meet the deadline.
The Conrad Sangma government has decided to dedicate the new building in the name of former Baghmara legislator and minister Late Lotsing A Sangma.
On the same day, a slew of other programs was also attended by the chief minister who unveiled the plaque to lay the foundation for a new Circuit House complex at Baghmara and the inauguration of the newly constructed building of Rangku Memorial Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Baghmara, funded by the Asian Development Bank.
“Every person’s productivity is instrumental in the growth story of Meghalaya. We need to ensure that our human capital progresses through the efficiency of our people and our youth. It is a responsibility we must cultivate. That is how our economy will grow and that is how Meghalaya will rise,” the Chief Minister said at the school function.
He also stressed on the need for individual productivity and action to derive collective growth for the State while addressing the gathering of young girls, teachers, educators and administrators. “As a Government, it is my desire to see that every single individual is productive. Every single person must become efficient in what they do. Only if we do that, we can see the economy of our State and our country grow,” the Chief Minister added.
Stating that the GDP of the State is at 5 billion dollars which is about 35,000 crores and our population is 33 lakhs. 33 lakh people are producing 35,000 crores and in contrast, the population of Iceland is 3.3 lakhs only but their economy is close to 30 billion dollars which is approximately close to 2 lakh crores. “This means that we are failing somewhere. Every person’s productivity is instrumental in the growth story of Meghalaya. We need to ensure that our Human Capital progresses through the efficiency of our people. It is a responsibility we must cultivate. That is how our economy will grow and that is how Meghalaya will rise,” he echoed.
“We have 24 hours in a day and we must ask ourselves if we are productively utilising our time. If the Government, the officials and the public at large start to work towards this objective, I am sure that our State will be at par with other places around the world. That is where education comes to play and it is the commitment of my Government to invest in human capital,” he added.
“We are keen to see that the schools in our State have proper infrastructure, we are keen to see that the teaching quality is better. The training of teachers must be facilitated, the quality of education must improve, the results must be better and our students’ analytical minds must go up. It is with this objective that our Government is focusing a lot on education and with the support of various funds by the central Government and through EAPs like these, we will be able to improve the productivity and skill our people. And take our State forward”.
“All the officials must remember that they have a vision and commitment towards their people. We must not look at our role as our duty or our jobs but we must look at it as our commitment and our responsibility towards our children, our youth and our people of the State. We must transform their lives and we must transform our State”.
The chief minister also paid a visit to the Captain Williamson Memorial School College in Baghmara, the only degree college in South Garo Hills district where he met with the college authorities and students and assured that priority would be accorded to develop the infrastructure of the College.