SHILLONG, Nov 8: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday termed the occasion a befitting tribute to Captain Williamson A Sangma, the founding CM of Meghalaya, as inaugurated and dedicated the new Siju C&RD Block in South Garo Hills to the people of Siju fulfilling their long cherished dreams.
Speaking on the occasion, the CM said, “Captain Sangma had great love and concern for the tribal hill people, who led the movement for the creation of a state we can proudly call home. Today, we are celebrating the golden jubilee of our state and it is a historic and apt occasion that we are establishing the Siju C&RD block in its native place.”
Stating that in 50 years, much could have been achieved but due to circumstances, Meghalaya still lags behind compared to other states, he said, “We have to envision a plan for the next 50 years and work accordingly to ensure that while we celebrate 100 years of Statehood we have a progressive state with equal opportunities for our people.”
“It is imperative that we lay down the vision and roadmap to see the Meghalaya we want in the next 50 years”, he added.
A crowd of over 3,000 people attended the historic moment at Siju, while the CM accompanied by Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Timothy D Shira, legislators Rakkam Sangma, Marcuise Marak, and Jim Sangma, and Rupert Momin, Chief Executive Member of Garo Hills Autonomous District Council, unveiled the plaque that marked the establishment of new C&RD block.
The dignitaries also visited the temporary block office at Siju. The construction of the new C&RD block building will start soon.
The CM further said that the MDA Government is committed to ensure overall growth in the state and the creation of the new Siju block will go a long way in ensuring better implementation of different schemes and programmes.
He also said that the state government has laid overall focus for ensuring economic prosperity of the people and has launched several initiatives. He said that FOCUS and FOCUS Plus, the biggest welfare programmes for the farmers will continue for the next 10 years to ensure financial stability amongst the farming communities.
During his visit to Siju, he also handed over FOCUS plus cards to the beneficiaries and handed over cheques to women-led SHGs an amount of Rs 28 lakh under Meghalaya State Rural Livelihoods Society. He also distributed piglets under the Rural Backyard Piggery and Poultry scheme — PROGRESS, as many as 1392 piglets were distributed to 348 farmers and 2,500 kuroiler birds were distributed to 50 poultry farmers. For youth development programmes to be carried forward by youth organisations to Siju, an amount of Rs 1 lakh was distributed through YESS Meghalaya programme.
He also inaugurated the Collective Marketing Centre of the Gangga Awe IVCS in Siju funded under the Meghalaya Livelihood Access to Market Project. This is said to be one of the best performing IVCS in the state. He also inaugurated the Cold Storage Unit provisioned to them, which is expected to aid the farmers in saving their perishable produce and preventing wastage and losses.
