SHILLONG, Nov 19: The newly-floated Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Friday said Meghalaya is going to celebrate 50 years of statehood in 2022 but the citizens have nothing to feel proud of.
Speaking during the launch of the party, VPP general secretary, Ricky AJ Syngkon said the state lags in education, health, agriculture and several other sectors since it does not have a vision statement.
“Reaching such a milestone is a momentous occasion. As we are ready to celebrate our statehood we should introspect where are stand as a state and what we have managed to achieve in the past 50 years,” Syngkon said.
Pointing out that Meghalaya is still an underdeveloped state he said there is nothing to be proud of if one has to judge the state on various parameters.
“Previously, Meghalaya used to be known as the education hub of the Northeastern region. But now we are moving backward. Till now, there is no state university. We only have NEHU which is a central institute,” he said.
The VPP general secretary also stated that the state lacks behind when it comes to the health sector and people still have to go outside the state for treatment.
“We are lucky to have NEIGRIHMS otherwise we don’t know where we would have been,” Syngkon said.
Talking about the agriculture sector, he said successive governments have failed to uplift the condition of the farmers despite 70% of the population remaining dependent on agricultural activities.
Syngkon further observed that Meghalaya was a power surplus state at one time adding and was even selling power to other states. “But now we have to purchase power from various distribution companies. Why is our state not moving forward? The main reason is because it does not have a vision,” he mentioned.