SHILLONG/TURA/AMPATI, Sep 1: To mark the birth anniversary of the founder of the National People’s Party (NPP), PA Sangma, the party has declared September 1 as its foundation day.
According to a statement, the decision was taken during a programme to mark the 74th birth anniversary of Sangma at the NPP headquarters, Shillong, on Wednesday.
During the programme, Power Minister James Sangma spoke at length about the achievements of the former Lok Sabha speaker.
He also said that NPP is the first party from North East to be recognised as a national party and have its office in the national capital.
The power minister also announced that September 1 will be celebrated as the foundation day of the NPP to mark the birth anniversary of Sangma.
“As we all know, there has been a lot of ambiguity in terms of our party’s foundation day. Therefore, it is decided by our present NPP national president Conrad Sangma that along with the birth anniversary of our late leader, September 1 will also be celebrated as the foundation day of the NPP,” James said.
State NPP president, WR Kharlukhi, on the other hand, said, “He (PA Sangma) was not just a political leader, but a great visionary. It was he who had laid the ideals on which the party is working today. It was he who took the pledge to help and work for the people of the North East as a whole.”
During the programme, the party members paid homage to Sangma and took pledge to work towards the betterment of the party, people and state.
Programme at Resubelpara
In North Garo Hills, Sagma’s birth anniversary was marked with an interaction programme under ‘Farmers Collectivization for Up-scaling Production and Marketing Systems (FOCUS)’.
The programme, which was held at Multi Facility Centre, Resubelpara, was attended by Deputy Speaker Timothy D Shira as the chief guest and MLAs of North Tura, Kharkutta and Bajengdoba. Thomas Sangma and MLAs of Kharkutta and Bajengdoba, Rupert Momin and Pongseng Marak.
The deputy speaker, during the programme, recalled the contributions of Sangma and said that programmes to mark the latter’s birth anniversary were being held all over the state.
With regard to the objective of the programme, Shira said FOCUS aims to promote farmers entrepreneurship by providing financial assistance, infrastructural development, market accessibility, etc.
He also urged the gathering them to form Producers’ Groups so as to receive support from the government.
As part of the FOCUS, cheques were distributed among 35 Producers’ Groups from three C&RD blocks of the district.
Meanwhile, in South West Garo Hills, FOCUS, MBMA, was launched at Rerapara Development Block during a programme to mark the birth anniversary of Sangma.
The programme was attended by Additional Deputy Commissioner SK Marak and Rerapara BDO, RZD Shira.
During the programme, cheques amounting to Rs 15,70,000 were distributed among 23 Producers’ Groups from Rerapara Block, which was then followed by an interaction session between the Producers’ Groups and officials from various line departments.
