SHILLONG, Jan 30: It was a mega show of strength when Chief Minister and NPP supremo Conrad K Sangma launched his election campaign from the South Tura seat on Monday.
Seeking the support of people for the NPP in the February 27 elections from a rally at the New Tura Law College field, he highlighted the various development initiatives of his government in the past five years.
He claimed the government’s performance has been “phenomenal”, stating that the various initiatives helped the state overcome over 45 years of underdevelopment, especially in the Garo Hills, and particularly the Tura constituency. He said the priority for his government was overall development across sectors.
Over 5,000 NPP supporters attended the rally. The constituency will witness an interesting battle among Sangma, BJP’s Bernard N Marak, UDP’s John Leslee K Sangma and TMC’s Richard M Marak.
“If we cannot improve governance, we can never see progress. This is why, my top priority was good governance, a perfect delivery mechanism and proper administration. Through these, we ensured that development takes place, not just in one sector but across departments,” the CM said.
He referred to the performance of the state under different Central government programmes. He said the funding for MGNREGS was raised exponentially.
“In 2018, the funding was only around Rs 500 crore for MGNREGS in our state, but after we had taken over, it touched Rs 1,800 crore,” Sangma said.
He said earlier it took 15 years to build 700 km of roads in the state but during the MDA’s tenure, roads, measuring close to 2,000 km, were built.
Sangma claimed Meghalaya is now a model for other states in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission. According to him, the progress that the state made in the last five years has made the central government to sit up and take notice.
“Earlier, the perception in New Delhi was that Meghalaya was unable to utilise the funds allocated. But now, they talk about the progress being made in the field of development which is no small feat. This is a boost for Meghalaya and our dream is to make Meghalaya a model state. We want it to be on a par with the best in the country,” he said.
