SWGH officials apprise Tura MP of prevalent issues

TURA, May 23: Numerous issues plaguing South West Garo Hills district were on Monday communicated with Tura MP Agatha Sangma during a meeting of the District Development Coordination & Monitoring Committee in Ampati on Monday.
The MP on Monday reviewed the status of implementation of central schemes and programmes in South West Garo Hills during a meeting which was attended by Salmanpara MLA Winnerson D Sangma, Deputy Commissioner SK Marak, vice chairman of State Level Public Grievances Committee Clement G Momin, BDOs as well as district officials from various line departments.
During the meeting, the officials informed the MP about the status of implementation of central schemes as well as snags encountered in the process.
Women participation in village employment council (VEC) was one of the matters discussed during the meeting.
Rerapara BDO, RZD Shira, informed that people in some villages are hesitant to appoint women as secretaries for the VEC citing reasons such as difficulties in commuting to offices, inability to manage time due to household chores, etc.
He also said that gender differences in demand for projects have been noted — while men VEC secretaries mainly demand for construction of roads and other such infrastructure, women VEC secretaries demand for projects like water conservation, household tap connections, and similar projects that can address household issues.
Issues were also raised on the district’s healthcare front — need for appointment of regular gynecologist, functioning of PHCs and CHCs with single ambulance each, shortage of water supply at Ampati Civil Hospital, cases of teenage pregnancy and suicide, and people’s dependency on traditional medicines were taken up during the meeting.
Garobadha SBI, on the other hand, flagged connectivity issues and inconsistent power supply. It said that such snags affect the branch’s efficiency, coercing them into working for only three hours a day as well as piling up cases.
The Garobadha SBI also raised the issue of failure in loan repayment by beneficiaries.
The MP has, meanwhile, also assured them of taking the matter up with the authorities concerned.