SHILLONG, March 16: The MDA on Tuesday conspicuously sang its own praises as Chief Minister Conrad Sangma led his government’s tirade against Opposition onslaught on failure of governance.
The chief minister hurled a barrage of claimed milestones achieved by the MDA in rendering governance at the Opposition.
Replying to the special motion moved by Congress legislator from Rangsakona, Zenith Sangma, on failure of governance and deterioration of law and order in Meghalaya, the chief minister brought to light on the floor of the House various initiatives taken by the government in the past few years.
Speaking about provision of drinking water, the chief minister revealed that major drinking water supply schemes such as the Tura Water Supply Scheme, Sohra Water Supply Scheme, Nongstoin Water Supply Scheme and Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase Ill, besides a sanction for the construction of the Baghmara Water Supply Scheme at a cost of Rs. 63.50 crore, have been accorded in the state.
Stating that achievable monthly targets have been fixed for every district in the state, which is being closely monitored, Conrad said, “We have also given very high priority to providing individual household tap connections to every rural household. As far as the national target for achieving 100 per cent household tap connection is 2024 is concerned, we have targeted to provide 100 per cent household tap connection to 5,90,000 homes by the end of 2022”.
Informing that the government has launched a comprehensive programme to revamp the basic health and education infrastructure across the state with special focus on rural areas, the chief minister said that in the Health sector, the MDA has plans to improve the infrastructure of health centres including district hospitals, PHCs, CHCs as well as sub-centres.
On the education front, the CM said that another Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for construction of new buildings on premises of 200 elementary schools besides renovation and extension of eight secondary and higher secondary schools, of which many do not even have a school building or more so the existing building is completely unusable.
“With regard to secondary education, the sanctions have been obtained for setting up 40 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across all blocks in state,” Conrad said, while exuding confidence that “the schools will transform the secondary education scenario in the state”.
On the higher education, the CM informed that three new degree colleges have been sanctioned at Baghmara, Sohra and Williamnagar.
Moreover, the CM asserted that key infrastructure sectors like power, sports, water resources, information technology and general administration are also being prioritised.
Pointing out that an important aspect of governance is social governance such as dealing with improvements in human development and well-being of citizens, particularly those at the grassroots level, the CM said, “Our state continues to be a leader in the implementation of MGNREGS, where we have set models for grassroots level governance and while we spent Rs 965 crore on this scheme in the year 2019-20, we expect to touch Rs 1,600 crore in the current financial year enabling the rural areas to cope with the economic disruption caused by COVID-19”.
“We have also provided 50 per cent reservation to women in village employment councils (VECs), which is a critical step to improve inclusive governance,” he added.
Continuing the counter attack on the Opposition allegations, the chief minister revealed to the House that the state government has promoted 29,000 self-help groups (SHGs) so far, out of which 21,600 have come into existence during the last three years, while adding that out of Rs 132 crore released to the groups so far, Rs 124 crore has been released during the tenure of the present dispensation.
Informing that a Business Correspondent Project has been launched in partnership with Meghalaya Rural Bank, wherein 100 micro ATMs were distributed to 100 SHG members to take banking services to the last mile, the chief minister said that in addition to women SHGs, 300 Integrated Villages Cooperative Societies (IVCS) have been created in the last two years to function as credit institutions at the village-level.
“These IVCS will also be converted into business correspondents by the end of the financial year so that banking services are available at the grassroots level,” he added.
The CM said that apart from creating grassroots institutions for mobilising credit, the government has also prioritised easy access to financial services for farmers, businesses and entrepreneurs.
“For the benefit of the farmers, the government is providing an additional 2 per cent interest subvention to the standard or regular Kisan Credit Card (KCC) borrowers in the state. This will be over and above the 3 per cent interest subvention given by the Government of India and will bring down the effective interest rates to 2 per cent. This move will benefit over 85,000 KCC holders in the state,” he said.
Claiming that the efforts of the MDA have been recognised at the national level, the CM said, “In a recently published report by the Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore, on quality of governance by the States & UTS in India, Meghalaya has been ranked 2nd amongst smaller states for overall governance and economic progress while being inclusive and ecologically secure”.
Maintaining that the state has launched the process of localisation of sustainable development goals (SDG), the CM said, “We expect to improve our ranking in the National SDG Index in the coming years. We have also enacted the Meghalaya Right to Public Services Act, 2020, to enhance the delivery of the services to all the citizens of the state”.
