Shillong, Dec 19: The Meghalaya government through the Special Purpose Vehicle Society (SPVS) has spent around Rs 170 core during the past ten years for taking up development activities in villages within 50 km radius of the French cement giant Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited (LUMPL) mining area at Nongtrai-Shella village in East Khasi Hills.
Talking to reporters after the meeting with the members of the Local Project Implementation Committee (LPIC) to review on the work which has been done in the past ten years here on Tuesday, SPVS Chief Executive Officer, PS Dkhar said that the society has manage to implement many schemes as per the needs of people of the area like in the health sector, education, irrigation, agriculture and infrastructure.
He said that the committee has also been able to formulate plans and projects for these areas.
According to him, the meeting held today will inspire the members of the committee to work more effectively for the overall interest of the people and the villages falling under the SPVS in the years to come.
SPVS CEO said that the area of focus for the coming years will be to help in creating sustainable livelihood for the people of the area and also to give priorities on human resource development by upgrading the skills of the youth and also to support in their higher education.
“Sustainable Livelihood and Human Resource Development are very critical for the development of the economy of the people of the area,” he said.
Meanwhile, SPVS CEO said that the continuation of the SPVS will depend on the LUMPL adding that the funding will continue as long as the cement company continues to extract limestone from the area to feed its cement plant.
Earlier, Chief Secretary, DP Wahlang who also attended the meeting said that the basic objective of this meeting was to get the feedback from the members of the Local Project Implementation Committee (LPIC).
He observed that they would like to hear from them how far they have achieved, what went wrong and what are the things which need to be improved.
“I don’t think there has been any major deficiency since the schemes are reaching the people,” Chief Secretary said.
A member of the Special Purpose Vehicle Committee (SPVC), Patricia Mukhim stressed on the need to protect the different water bodies in the area.
She also suggested that the Dorbar Shnongs of the different villages will need to devise a revenue model by renting their community halls for various purposes.
According to her, the people need to think about their future, especially to be able to sustain themselves once the LUMPL stops its funding.
Mukhim said that she is disappointed since only a few women attended the meeting since she wants to know more about their hand weaving activities.
On the occasion, the Chief Secretary and member of the SPVC also released the coffee table book on the ten-year journey of the SPVS.