By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 19: The Special Purpose Vehicle Committee (SPVC) constituted by the Supreme Court of India celebrated the completion of its 10th year, and discussed the list of activities and work taken up by the Local Project Implementation Committee (LPIC) at the State Convention Centre here, on Tuesday.
The SPV, which was constituted by the apex court through the Special Purpose Vehicle Society (SPVS) to take up developmental activities and eco-regeneration projects in villages within the 50 km radius of the French cement giant Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited (LUMPL) mining area at Nongtrai-Shella village in East Khasi Hills, and has spent about Rs 170 crore during the past 10 years.
On its 10th year, the SPV Committee invited the members of the LPIC to share with them the list of activities and quantum of work taken up by the SPVS in the last 10 years. The Chief Executive Officer, SPVS, PS Dkhar said that the society has managed to implement many schemes as per the needs of people of the area, particularly in education, health, agriculture, irrigation, water supply and infrastructure creation.
He said that the SPV Committee has also been able to formulate plans and projects for these areas after a great deal of deliberation so that there is a balance between human resource development and infrastructure creation.
According to him, the meeting held on Tuesday 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.
The 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 to human resource development by upgrading the skills of the youth and also by supporting them 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.
The SPVS CEO also 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 in Chatak, Bangladesh.
Earlier, Chief Secretary, DP Wahlang who is the Chairperson of the SPV Committee said that the basic objective of this meeting was to get feedback from the members of the Local Project Implementation Committee (LPIC). On hearing that a number of students from the areas are pursuing their education in Shillong, Wahlang said that the Committee would explore if one hostel each for boy and girl students can be constructed in Shillong so that students don’t have to spend on house rent etc.
Wahlang asked the attendants that the SPV Committee wanted an honest feedback of how far the objectives of the project have been achieved and what are the gaps if any.
“I don’t think there has been any major deficiency since the schemes are reaching the people,” the Chief Secretary said.
Member of the Special Purpose Vehicle Committee (SPVC), Patricia Mukhim who was appointed by the Supreme Court stressed on the need to protect the different water bodies in the area and to conserve the environment beyond the Lafarge mining areas where limestone is being mined without any adherence to environmental concerns.
She also suggested that since a lot of infrastructure has been created in the area such a state of the art community halls etc., the Dorbar Shnongs of the different villages will need to devise a revenue model so that there are resources for maintenance and repair when the need arises.
Mukhim said that people need to think of a future beyond Lafarge and that should be a sustainable future. “This world is shared by men and women equally but I am disappointed to see so few women attending this important meet so we can get feedback from them as well. It would have been good to get a firsthand account on the weaving and other livelihoods activities,” Mukhim said.
On the momentous occasion, the Chief Secretary and member of the SPVC also released a coffee table book listing the ten year journey of the SPVS.