TURA, Dec 2: Former banker, Anjana Areng, will seek to give back to the society after announcing her aspirations to contest for the North Tura seat in the upcoming elections in 2023 on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket.
“I have worked across the country in various capacities in the State Bank of India, retiring from Tura last year. I feel it’s the right time for me to come forward and work for the betterment of my local society and that is why I want to contest the upcoming elections on a BJP party ticket,” said Anjana during a conversation this morning at her residence in Hawakhana in Tura.
Anjana said that in all her years in Meghalaya, real development is yet to set in and this is one such aspect she is desperate to change.
“Just look at the town of Tura. Only new buildings have come up across the town and these belong to only a few people. The rest still struggle to make ends meet. Development has to be overall and across all strata and not the privilege of a few. This is one aspect that needs changing,” she felt.
She stated that all across the country and even in nearby Assam, development in the true sense is being brought by the Narendra Modi-led BJP and the party’s stance on corruption was an encouraging sign for all.
“Here, literally nothing has progressed despite so many years as a state. The rural parts of the state are in shambles. Empowerment of the people of the villages in the state should have been the primary focus of the legislators but that seems to have been given the short shrift,” felt Anjana.
“Being a banker, I seek an AA rating for many sectors. I want to strive towards clean and transparent people’s governance, sustainable development, empowerment of women, power to the youth, excellence in civic amenities, quality education, clean local administration, housing for all as well as a drug-free society in Garo Hills,” stated the former banker.
An AA rating is the highest in terms of banking standards and this is something she wants to strive for.
Listing the problems in the state that, according to her, require immediate intervention, Anjana said that during her experience as a banker in the state, she felt there was no focussed approach which has led to poor growth in the state.
“Industries are non-existent and there is very poor credit delivery. There is no promotion for entrepreneurs in the MSME sector. In the farming sector, there is no focussed development strategy, single crop farming due to the lack of irrigation, non primacy of cash crops, no storage infrastructure, no agro tech industries, non primacy of forest products and no emphasis on animal husbandry,” she said, adding that these were leading to poor development in the state.
The above, she mentioned, were some of the things that needed to be worked on an immediate basis to ensure development of the state and the growth of employment.
“These are things I, as a resident of the state, would like to change. Given the ticket and if I do win, I will lay stress on these sectors. Successive governments have failed the state on these lines but I am sure that the BJP can ensure these are successfully pushed into the state,” she asserted.
