SHILLONG, Jan 12: In a bid to corroborate the developmental work introduced by the National People’s Party (NPP) during their term, the (NPP) on Thursday released a document titled ‘Promises Delivered’ which aimed at drawing parallels between the promises made in 2018 and what has been delivered so far.
Promises were made to bring a change in almost every front when the NPP had come to power. Finance, Education and Human Capital, Health, Road and Transport, power reforms, and urban development are some of the areas where the government promised to deliver positive results.
In the Planning and Finance sector, according to the document, the NPP had promised to improve the living standards and the government has increased the Average Annual State Expenditure from Rs 8,875 crore in 2014-18 to Rs 13,205 crore at present.
It even recalled some of the recent schemes such as the flagship FOCUS and FOCUS+, YESS Meghalaya, Skills Meghalaya et al, which it claimed to have improved the standard of living.
It may however be noted that accusations have been leveled against the government of misusing FOCUS & FOCUS+ schemes.
In terms of fiscal and economic reforms, the party claims to have introduced several reforms and changes in the rules and Acts related to Taxation, Transport and Mining departments, which facilitated enhanced tax collection.
On its promise of creating efficient and robust tax collection system, the NPP claimed that tax collection has improved from Rs 1,658 crore in FY2019-20 to Rs 2,612 crore in 2022-23.
In education and human capital development, the party said it had promised rehabilitation of school and college dropouts.
It maintains that several drop-out students were trained in different skills.
With regard to the promise of upgrading and modernising existing institutions, the party said that 2,000 schools are being upgraded,
21 people’s colleges are to be inaugurated, while higher education institutions are also coming up in every district.
But many schools continue to be bedevilled in Garo Hills with the infrastructure being far from satisfactory.
For the teaching fraternity, the NPP said it has increased ad hoc schoolteachers’ salary by Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,000. It also said that the pending salaries of SSA teachers were cleared, while 2,400 lower and upper primary teachers’ services were regularised.
In the health sector, the party had promised improved access and affordability of quality secondary and tertiary care services, besides facilitating operation and growth of the private healthcare sector.
Of these, the NPP claims health insurance coverage has been increased from Rs 2.6 lakh to Rs 5.3 lakh under Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS).
Over 250 upgrade works have been taken up in public health facilities and about 75 health sub centres are under different stages of construction, it said.
It also said that Teleconsultations have been launched through Apollo clinics and Gramin Clinics.
But the fact of the matter remains; health sector in the state needs more attention. Only recently, the cancer unit of the Shillong Civil Hospital was inaugurated only after the intervention of the High Court of Meghalaya.
The party claims that the government has has constructed more roads in 5 years than in 20 years when all past governments exhausted their terms.
“In rural roads, 2,234 km of roads were constructed during 2018-22 whereas in 2014-18 only 700 km of rural roads were constructed,” the party document said.
However, many important roads in Shillong and even highways like the Jowai Bypass are in a horrid state. Even construction of the much-vaunted Shillong-Dawki road has missed its deadlines.
In the power front, the NPP said that an action plan for the revival of the sector has been finalized.
It mentioned Ganol Hydro Electric Project, which was inaugurated recently, as one of the achievements in the power sector, which has been subject to allegations of scams and anomalies.
On tourism, the NPP had promised the State Tourism Policy, which, the party said, has been formulated.
Meghalaya’s first five-star hotel Vivanta Meghalaya was made operational after 36 years and the second five-star hotel Courtyard by Marriot is also ready, it said.
It added that 2,500 homestays are being constructed with up to 70% subsidy in construction cost under Homestay scheme, while adding that the Meghalaya Eco Tourism Infrastructure Development Project is also put in place with the aim of creating iconic infrastructure at key tourist destinations.
According to party, the Meghalaya Mineral (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2022, was drafted for prohibition of illegal mining, tracking of the mining, transportation, storage of minerals and to keep a check on overall mining activities of the state.
Prospecting licences have been allotted to 17 parties, it added.
It may be recalled that in the last 5 years, a litany of instances of illegal transportation of coal have come to light with even the High Court akin cognizance of the activity.
Coal mine deaths have also been reported.
In urban development front, the NPP mentioned the administrative city plan wherein 870 acres of land was acquired in New Shillong Township, besides harping on improvement of infrastructure in urban areas as well as measures taken to decongest urban pockets.
A sum of Rs 1,040 crore has been sanctioned for Smart Town Project in Shillong.
According to the document, smart town projects have been launched in Jowai, Nongstoin, and Williamnagar.
It also mentioned the inauguration of the state-of-the-art Shillong International Centre for Performing Arts & Culture (SICPAC).
The law and order situation has been by and large peaceful over the past 5 years, the party claimed. But several law and order situations were witnessed in the past 5 years as well; the Harijan Colony issue, Ichamati incident and the fallout of Mukroh firing incident are some.
