SHILLONG, Feb 2: The Shillong Technology Park — a brainchild of the state government to render a much-needed impetus for the bedevilled employment scenario in Meghalaya — was on Wednesday inaugurated at New Shillong Township.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who inaugurated the Shillong Technology Park, expressed hope that the Tech Park will provide golden opportunities to IT professionals of Meghalaya, who are employed outside the state.
Informing that Shillong Technology Park is one of the 300 ambitious projects of the state government, Conrad said, “I am sure many youngsters working outside Meghalaya would like to come back and work near their homes. I have already announced a vision that in the next 10 years, Meghalaya should be among the top 10 states of India. The success of this Tech Park will propel the realisation of this vision.”
“Although the first phase building of the Technology Park is going to create employment for more than 1,500 people directly, it is, however, estimated that it will generate three times as many jobs indirectly. Shillong Technology Park will bring convergence of different arrays of technology to a single platform, viz. combination of voice, video, data on a single network,” the chief minister said.
Stating that Meghalaya has tremendous potential in the IT sector, he said that the Tech Park has been designed based on plug-and-play model.
Informing that the first phase, which has been completed, was funded by the state government, the chief minister informed that he would, for the subsequent phases, encourage the operation of the Shillong Technology Park on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The inaugural programme was also attended by Information Technology and Communication Minister Hamletson Dohling and PHE Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar.
An upbeat Conrad also said that the Shillong Tech Park will further increase the career options for the state youths in various ways.
“We will set up a single-window mechanism with minimum entry-barriers to on-board companies to operate from the Tech Park. The youths of Meghalaya need not think in terms of either-or, meaning continuing in Meghalaya or moving to some other city, but should think in terms of MCQs (multiple choices). Presently, multiple options and choices are available to the youths to realise their potential in Meghalaya,” he said.
Contending that connectivity is an important aspect for technological transformation, the chief minister said, “The state government is coordinating actively with all stakeholders, including the Government of India, for expeditious roll-out of BharatNet and improvement in the telecom network in the state. Emphasis is being given to the 4G towers being set up, funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of Government of India.”
He also said that Shillong airport will ensure connectivity, thereby encouraging easy access to Shillong for CEOs and others from the industry. He added that five-star hotels, too, are coming up in the state capital, further providing an ecosystem for the IT-enabled sector.
It may be mentioned that several companies have already made commitments to set up their facilities at the newly inaugurated Tech Park, the construction of which was completed in a record time of 25 months.
During the occasion, the chief minister also inaugurated TechDigital at the Shillong Technology Park. TechDigital, a BPO, is one of the IT companies in the Tech Park, which, according to the chief minister, will provide employment to over 300 locals.
Meanwhile, during his visit to New Shillong Township, the chief minister also inspected the construction work of the new Meghalaya Assembly Building at Mawdiangdiang.
He also inspected the work progress of the 11-kilometre Shillong-Diengpasoh road.