By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 17: Different cooperative societies of Khasi-Jaintia Hills region received cheques as financial support under the state’s Milk Mission and Piggery Mission, during a programme at the State Convention Centre here on Friday.
The Milk Mission is funded by National Co-operative Development Society with a budget of Rs 215.48 crore making it North East India’s largest Milk Mission, which will directly benefit 2000 households. Under this scheme, loan sanction letters amounting to a total of Rs 12.20 crore were issued to 40 cooperative societies of Meghalaya.
Meanwhile, under the Piggery Mission, as many as 100 cooperative societies were issued loan sanction letters amounting to Rs 18.53 crore.
After handing over the cheques, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, in his address, said that there is a large shift in the overall spending of the government in various key sectors, even as he pointed out that the government focused on delivery, implementation, increasing efficiency and improving governance.
He added that the two important verticals viz., the social sector vertical like Health, Education, Social Welfare and others, and the socio-economic vertical, which is economically driven but socially inclined, which are areas like Farming, Food Processing, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary and Tourism, needed to be pushed to take advantage of the overall spending of the government so that benefit can reach to the poorest of the poor at the grassroots level.
The chief minister also said the state consumes about 18,000 metric tonne (MT) of pork annually out of which 10,000 MT is imported and if the deficit requirement of pork can be produced by the state, the revenue will stay in the state. “We have a readymade market and we just need to take advantage of this readymade market by providing support and infrastructure and creating livelihood for the people to be able to give the revenue back to the people of the state,” Conrad said, even as he assured support to the 12 pig breeding centres in the state.