SHILLONG, June 28: Fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of residents, the state government on Monday announced the creation of Meghalaya’s twelfth district — Mairang — promising that the new district would come into existence before Independence Day celebrations.
Announcing the name of the new district, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said the decision to upgrade Mairang sub-division into a district will improve the life of people. He was however non-committal on the demand for Sohra district.
Asserting that West Khasi Hills had been neglected for long, Sangma said that the decision will improve the livelihood of people and bring administration closer to citizens. With this move, the government will emulate the Sustainable Development Goals model of the United Nations, Sangma said.
When pointed out that the announcement would pave way for similar demands from other places, the CM said that each demand would be weighed on its merit. He also recalled that Power Minister, James Sangma has been demanding district status for Dadenggre.
The CM made it clear that the district announcement was not election oriented since the government has announced the new district of Mairang despite elections being far away.
Meanwhile, KHADC Chief Executive Member, Titosstarwell Chyne and Shella MLA, Balajied Kupar Synrem met the Chief Minister on Monday to pursue the long-pending demand for upgradation of Sohra civil sub-division into a district.
Addressing reporters later, Chyne said the demand for Sohra district has been pending since 1990 and successive government have ignored the pleas of the residents.
“We just had an informal discussion with the CM on this demand. We tried to impress upon him the need to upgrade Sohra into a district,” Chyne said.
“As people’s representatives we can only pursue the matter with the government. We have asked our people to wait with patience since the government has its own mechanism to examine this demand,” Synrem said.
