SHILLONG, March 21: In a bid to leave a lasting mark among their peers, first-time MLAs of Meghalaya Assembly highlighted several pertinent issues concerning their respective constituencies as well as the state while taking part in the general discussion on the Governor’s address on Tuesday as the House entered second day of the Budget session.
Congress MLA from Mawhati, Charles Marngar, who is also the local MDC, said that the state government had failed to ensure the safety and security of the villagers residing in the border villages nestled along the interstate boundary with Assam.
He mentioned that three people were arrested on April 22, 2022, by the Assam Police and they were wrongly accused of being involved in setting fire to the wooden bridge at Sabuda.
“Sadly no attempt was made by the state government to protect our own people who were wrongly accused,” Marngar said.
Changing gears, the Congress MLA from Mawhati lauded the state government’s decision to notify the setting up of seven border outposts terming it as a necessary step to ensure border residents’ safety.
He suggested that the government should set up this outpost at the conflict areas and not beyond that as inspected by the concerned department in his constituency.
Marngar also questioned the District Council Affairs (DCA) department for failing to effectively discharge its roles and responsibilities to safeguard the traditional heritage and customary practices. “The DCA department has failed to send to the Governor to assent the important bills passed by the KHADC,” Marngar who is also the MDC in the KHADC said.
He mentioned that the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Clan Administration) Bill, 2022 which was passed on July 8 last year is yet to receive the assent of the Governor.
The Congress MLA strongly condemned the decision of the government to extend the application of CrPC and CPC by taking away the powers of the District Council courts.
Meanwhile, UDP MLA from Mawphlang, Mathew Beyondstar Kurbah has urged upon the state government to protect the interest of the farmers of the state by taking steps to ensure that they are able to sell their agricultural produce at a profitable rate.
Stating that the construction of the College of Science and Commerce at Mawphlang is making steady progress, he called for steps for recruitment of the principal, faculties and staff to ensure that the college is made operational at the earliest for the benefit of the students of his constituency.
Kurbah, who is the former Chief Engineer of MeECL, emphasised on the need to strengthen and modernise the power distribution network to reduce Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses.
He stated that there are various schemes which are being implemented in the state under different funding of ADB and Ministry of Power.
According to him, there is a need to speed up the work to ensure that uninterrupted power supply is provided to the people of the state and to avoid unnecessary disruption of power supply especially during rainy season.
HSPDP MLA from Mawshynrut, Methodius Dkhar said that the state government should allot maximum of the 5,000 homestays, which the government is planning to set up in the next five years, to West Khasi Hills.
According to him, this will help boost the tourism sector in the district since not much has been done in the last two years.
He also said that this will help in generating revenue for the government as well as employment opportunities for the youth.
The HSPDP MLA has also pushed for improvement in the mobile connectivity since there are many villages in Mawshynrut constituency deprived of mobile connectivity.
Congress MLA from Nongstoin, Gabriel Wahlang, on the other hand, batted for the launch of ‘Squash Mission’ in West Khasi Hills, which, he contended, would be of great benefit to the farmers of the district.
Stating that the MeECL has installed smart meters under the Saubhagya scheme in four of the villages under the constituency without having the necessary infrastructure such as sub-station and electricity line, he said, “These villages are yet to get power even after two years of installation of the meters.”
Wahlang also informed that the Nongstoin Urban Supply Scheme is yet to be commissioned even though the project was implemented in 2013.
Pointing out that the people of his constituency have suffered due to the ban on coal mining by NGT, the Congress MLA said that the small-time miners who own a small plot of land will not be able to fulfill the condition to apply for mining licence since they will need to have 100 hectares of land.
He requested the government to explore if the threshold could be reduced to 40 hectares for applying mining licence.
