SHILLONG, Feb 9: In what can be best described as a town hall meet, leaders of eight political parties, barring the NPP, converged at Synod College here on Thursday. They included the KAM Meghalaya, VPP, PDF, HSPDP, UDP, Congress, TMC and BJP. All parties spoke on the need to revamp the health and education sector besides addressing the unemployment problem in the State. The interaction titled “Political parties’ agenda – A public interface” was organised by the Department of Political Science (Under Graduate), Synod College.
The interactive session has a great significance with the Assembly polls in the state scheduled to be held on February 27.
Leaders of the different political parties highlighted their priorities and promises for the people and the State which are reflected in the party manifestos for the ensuing Assembly polls.
Congress candidate from East Shillong, Manuel Badwar said the Congress in its manifesto has focused on the need to improve the education system in the State. He said that the party proposed to set up community college for students who cannot afford to go to normal colleges adding that they are also proposing to set up a state university.
According to him, as per the report of the NITI Aayog, the more educated the person is the more unemployable he/she becomes.
“We will address the unemployment problem right from the grassroots. And we can do this by plugging in to the online sales portals like Amazon since there are several trucks bringing goods from outside the state but go back carrying nothing. Meghalaya can create a marketing hub and delivery centre where online merchants like Amazon can source products from Meghalaya. This will create employment avenues and job opportunities for the youth,” Badwar said.
Stating that the government can increase the insurance plan for the BPL families, he said that the state government will need to spend around Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore annually. Badwar said that Meghalaya with a population of 38 lakh has internal revenue of Rs 2,900 crore while Sikkim with only eight lakh population has internal revenue of Rs 4,600 crore. This needs to be reconsolidated, he said.
Promising to raise the insurance cover, Badwar said, “Now, the insurance coverage under MHIS is only Rs 5 lakh. We have seen that the government pays only Rs 20,000 for a medical bill of Rs 1 lakh which is a very meager amount.”
He said that the Congress would ensure that the insurance amount is raised to Rs 25-30 lakh.
UDP vice president Allantry F Dkhar claimed that it was the UDP-led government which had tried to resolve the interstate border dispute with Assam and also the Harijan Colony issue.
According to him, the UDP-led government under former chief minister late EK Mawlong and then Assam chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had agreed that all the Khasi dominated villages in Block I and Block II will be returned to Meghalaya. He said that the UDP government had also tried to relocate the people residing at Them Iew Mawlong in 2001 during the tenure of former Urban Affairs Minister, Roshan Warjri.
“The quarters were even constructed. But the two issues remain unresolved after the UDP-led government collapsed,” Dkhar said.
He said that the UDP, if voted to power, will ensure a corruption-free government.
“We will also take steps to upgrade the health care facilities with CHC, PHC and sub centres along with adequate manpower,” the UDP vice president said.
Dkhar said that the UDP has been part of many governments. “But it could not do anything since they had never been in the driving seat,” he said.
BJP state spokesperson, GF Shullai said that the party is yet to release its party manifesto.
“We have tried to incorporate some new issues in the manifesto. We can clarify that the only agenda of the party is to serve the people of the state. I will urge upon the people of the state not to believe on the unverified information about the party which is circulating in the social media,” he said.
He also highlighted how the people of the state have benefited from the programmes initiated by the BJP-led government at the Centre, including low cost rice distributed through different channels. Shullai also stated that the BJP government had identified smart cities which are centres of major religions and that Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is identified as a Christian-majority Smart City.
Meanwhile, TMC leader, Fabian Lyngdoh said that the party will revive and strengthen the economy of the state by reducing revenue leakage. “Meghalaya is resource rich yet its people are poor because the resources have not been adequately capitalised.”
On education, Lyngdoh said that only those with expertise should qualify to teach and all things being equal and with the reservation policy intact it is still possible to get the best brains to teach. Only that can restore Meghalaya’s name as an education hub of the Northeast.
Lyngdoh also stated that if voted to power the TMC will scrap the MOU on the border agreement signed between the Meghalaya and Assam government.
“It was surprising to see the statement of an NPP leader who declared that villages under Block II fall under Assam. This only proves he is ignorant of the facts on the ground,” Lyngdoh said.
He said that the TMC would constitute a special committee to examine if the implementation of ILP is feasible in the state.
KAM Meghalaya North Shillong candidate, Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh slammed the BJP for not respecting the constitutional values and for destroying the federal structure of the country.
“We are committed to promoting participatory democracy,” Pyrtuh said. He pointed out that KAM Meghalaya will even try to push for electoral reforms where a non-performing candidate can be recalled. Pyrtuh also pointed to the growing landlessness in Meghalaya and the need for cadastral survey so that we know who owns how much land and then push for a land ceiling act. The KAM manifesto also promises to give due attention to maternal and child care in view of the poor statistics in maternal and infant mortality.
HSPDP representative, Panbor Ryntathiang stressed on the objectives of the party to fight for a Khasi-Jaintia state, to resolve border issues, to get the Khasi language included in the Eighth Schedule, to promote youth entrepreneurship and revamp the power sector apart from the party’s continued resistance to uranium mining.
PDF representative, Elizar Chyne said it was the PDF that took an active part in restoring the powers of the traditional institutions when the powers were struck down by the Meghalaya High Court in 2015. He stated that the party would if voted to power do away with the Meghalaya Public Service Commission and District Selection Committees and instead create an Employment Generation Commission. The PDF he said would come out with a robust Agricultural Policy and a Tourism Policy that is more realistic apart from empowering ASHA workers by paying them better salaries.
Avner Pariat of the VPP spoke of two important objectives of the party which is a corruption-free Meghalaya and strong decisive leadership. Pariat stated that it is important to strengthen government schools to make education more accessible and affordable. He also stated that the VPP would root out the bad practices of private schools and colleges. He lamented that Meghalaya has no government college, forget about a state university. Pariat also pointed out that the expenses for healthcare in private hospitals need to be regulated.
During the interactive session a lady who identified herself as a hawker questioned the BJP representative on claims of providing low cost rice which many poor people have not received. She also questioned why the amount of Rs 2,100 meant to assist the poor during the pandemic never reached many poor people. The lady questioned why the pedestrian road at Police Bazar was now open to vehicles? “Is it because they don’t want us poor people to earn our livelihoods?”
To the above questions, the BJP representative could not give a satisfactory answer.
Editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim lamented that the panel did not have single women and hence none of the political parties highlighted the grave issue of anemia among women which is about 52% and of the high percentage of maternal and infant mortality. She also questioned the paucity of data in Meghalaya and asked how it was possible to make interventions without adequate data. Mukhim also pointed to the need for gender budgeting especially on health. Responding to the BJP, Mukhim queried why smart cities should be built on the basis of religion.
Toki Blah of ICARE questioned why none of the political parties spoke of governance which is central to democracy. Poor governance is the reason why Meghalaya is regressing with every passing day, Blah said.
Dr Sumarbin Umdor, Economics Department, NEHU questioned the TMC representative as to where the resources would come from for the tall promises made by the party during its election campaign.
Ironically although the Meghalaya NPP president is a former teacher of Synod College, neither he nor any representative of the NPP was present at this important interface.