SHILLONG, Feb 11: A good many promises have featured in KAM Meghalaya’s South Shillong candidate Angela Rangad’s election manifesto, which was released here on Saturday.
Speaking to media persons after releasing her election manifesto, Rangad said that if elected to power, she will not use red beacon on her vehicles and will ensure that she and her family only access government health services.
“I have given birth to all my children at Ganesh Das Hospital, which is one of the best public hospitals for women and children. I will continue to avail government health services,” Rangad said.
The KAM Meghalaya candidate also said that the demand for welfare boards for workers is met.
She also said that a chunk of her salary will be used for the establishment of a People’s Rights & Facilitation Centre, which would make access to rights and entitlements convenient, corruption-free and time-bound for all the residents of South Shillong.
Admitting that the funds that are used for public work is people’s money, Rangad said, “The amount spent and for what purpose has it been spent will be clearly mentioned. It would be better to spend this money in actually telling people what are the entitlements of the schemes and what entitlements the electorates are ought to get.”
She also said that the MLA office will be a public authority and will also disclose all the information around usage of MLA funds and other initiatives proactively on a ‘Transparency Portal’ and a mobile app for South Shillong. “All the records will be available for people at the MLA office as well, which people can access anytime,” she said.
It was also informed by the KAM Meghalaya candidate that People’s Action Plan for South Shillong comprises improving quality and accessibility of civic infrastructure, safety and security for all, and ensuring rights of women and elderly to education, health and employment.
Meanwhile, Rangad has also emphasised the need for a corruption and nepotism-free governance through underlining key projects on Accountability and Transparency.
According to her, some of these projects include a participatory survey and budgetary exercise to determine where Rs 2.5 crore, received as MLA grant, should be spent.
Rangad also highlighted her plan to set up a community resource bank for essential school supplies as education expenses are shooting up for parents.
She said that the MLA office shall play the role of bridging the gap between various communities and cultures of South Shillong while creating systems for legal aid and support in cases of targeted violence, hate crimes and domestic violence.
Underscoring the need of functional and good quality crèches, clean and hygienic public toilets in markets, and 100 per cent coverage of key social security schemes like ration, pension, scholarships and health insurance, Rangad talked about how the manifesto is built by people’s inputs through door-to-door visits, pocket meetings and street corner meetings in South Shillong in the past 7 to 8 months.
Furthermore, the KAM Meghalaya candidate has also hinted at launching a programme in South Shillong, if elected to power, that would provide door-to-door support to elderly persons, single parents and working families with respect to their needs, and support them in claiming their rights and entitlements.
She stated in her manifesto that mining should serve greater common good instead of criminal capture of the state, corporate greed, absolute devastation of ecology and environment and violation of human rights.
Rangad also accentuated the need for fast-track courts to prosecute all those running illegal check gates and extortion rackets.