SHILLONG, March 8: Notwithstanding the barrage of attacks on multiple issues ranging from corruption to misgovernance, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) has asserted that the state is making good progress on the development front.
Speaking to media persons after releasing a booklet titled “Meghalaya On The Move” to mark the completion of the MDA Government’s third year in office, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said, “With new targets being set for the next two years, the government will work relentlessly to fulfill the aspirations of our people. We continue with their faith and blessings.”
“This year is going to be crucial for us as many big projects are up and running and whether it is projects in social sector, youth schemes or infrastructure development, all have begun smoothly,” he said.
The CM said that attempts will be made to hasten the pace of development projects in the state.
“It is going to be an exciting year as most of the iconic infrastructure will be completed in the next financial year and if not fully completed, at least 90 per cent of the work will be completed,” he said.
The CM informed that work order for Tura beautification project has been completed while the work order for Jowai beautification project will be issued next month. “As far as Shillong is concerned, we have 3-4 big iconic projects in mind,” he added.
The booklet highlights the MDA Government’s achievement to taking the state to the second spot in India with 90% of immunization during 2020-21 despite the COVID-19 crisis.
The booklet said that a vaccination campaign called “5 times in 1 year” has been introduced to sensitise people on the importance of vaccination. Also, Japanese Encephalitis Vaccination Campaign has been organised with 96.34% coverage in the five districts of Garo Hills.
The report also said that about than 65,000 pregnant mothers have been registered under MOTHER (Meghalaya’s Outcomes Oriented Transformation in Health, Education, Nutrition and Rural development) Programme and more than 40,000 child births have been captured, since the launch of the programme.
The booklet states that under NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) 28,000 elementary teachers have been undergoing online training in the state and 14,669 schools across the State have been mapped under geographic information system (GIS).
Highlighting the developments in the infrastructure sector, the booklet states that the government has completed the tender of eight major roads at an amount of Rs 385.83 crore covering a total length of 179.86 km.