Health condition prompts Governor Phagu Chauhan to end speech briefly
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 16: Governor Phagu Chauhan on Friday addressed the house on the first day of the budget session in Hindi without any opposition and spoke a few lines in Khasi and Garo language.
He greeted the members of the house, however, the governor’s health condition prompted him to end his speech briefly.
Assembly Speaker Thomas Sangma announced that the remaining portion of the governor’s speech as read and translated copies of the speech in English were also distributed to the members of the house.
Some of the key takeaways from the Governor’s address that was presented in the house included:-
Finance
Meghalaya’s GSDP for the current financial year is projected to be Rs 47,381 crore which is 11% more than the previous year. The primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors registered a growth of above 10% in the current year.
The state launched the e-Proposal system to improve the overall efficiency of the government. The system has digitized the process of obtaining all administrative and financial sanctions. More than 53,000 files have been processed by the system in the current year.
The state government has set an ambitious target of making Meghalaya a 10 billion US dollars economy by 2028, thereby doubling the state’s GDP.
Home (Political) &
Home (Police)
The overall law and order in the state was peaceful during the previous year. Various national and state festivals were celebrated without any untoward incident. The government is committed to bringing lasting peace to the state and once again reiterates that it is open to talks with the HNLC within India’s constitutional framework and by the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Following the signing of the historic memorandum of understanding in 2022 for six areas of difference, the process of survey has been initiated to demarcate the interstate boundary. The chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya met again in May 2023 to initiate the process of resolving the dispute in the remaining six areas of difference. The regional committees have conducted meetings with their Assam counterparts and the process for resolution of the remaining six areas is on track.
The Home (Police) Department has augmented the district-level police infrastructure and police housing.
The fire emergency services are being strengthened on priority.
The long-pending recruitment to 1,010 vacant posts was completed last year thereby augmenting the police force. Over 3,000 vacancies in various ranks of the Meghalaya Police will also be filled up in a time-bound manner.
Health & Family Welfare
Meghalaya’s public health indicators have shown remarkable improvement in the last few years. The state has experienced a 50% reduction in maternal death following the introduction of the Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Scheme. The scheme’s existing network of 140 transit homes is being strengthened by upgrading 20 CHCs into referral units.
87% of eligible infants have been brought under the state’s routine immunization target. There has also been a 30% reduction in infant mortality, both of which are record-breaking achievements.
The government has taken the lead in powering its public health Infrastructure with solar energy. Close to 400 sub-centres and more than 50 PHCs and several other healthcare facilities are now fully solar-powered. This has resulted in deliveries being conducted for the first time at sub-centres.
To bolster the state’s healthcare workforce, the Medical Recruitment Board has filled 47% of vacant medical positions in just one year. The government has disbursed more than Rs 6 crore through 6,500 Village Health Councils to strengthen localized public health capacity through community participation.
Education
The government is currently upgrading the existing infrastructure in all schools. 208 elementary, secondary, and higher secondary schools have been taken up in Phase-l. 111 schools are being covered under Phase II and another 1,725 under Phase III.
The long-standing issue of recruitment of government elementary school teachers has been resolved recently. The 996 newly recruited teachers were handed appointment letters in programmes at Tura and Shillong.
In the field of higher education, Shillong Government College of Engineering was inaugurated last year and will welcome its first cohort of students soon. The College of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tura is scheduled for completion later this year. The Captain Willamson Sangma Technical University Act was amended to make it a state university to be able to affiliate colleges. This is going to be Meghalaya’s first state university.
Sports & Youth Affairs
The last five years have seen consistent and systematic investment in sports Infrastructure and capacity building. World-class sports facilities like the Wahiajer Multisport Complex in Jaintia Hills and Pa Togan Nengminja Sangma Athletic Stadium in Garo Hills were inaugurated this year. Work on the construction and improvement of J N Stadium in Shillong and the P A Sangma Sports Complex in Tura is progressing steadily. With the operationalization of four new centres last year, there is now a Khelo India Centre in every district of Meghalaya covering a wide range of sporting disciplines like football, tennis, archery, athletics, and badminton.
Several prestigious sports events were organized in Meghalaya this year. The biggest of these was the 5th edition of the Meghalaya Games which took place for the first time in Tura and brought together more than 3,000 athletes who competed in 22 sporting disciplines. Other sporting events included the 6th Meghalaya Kayak Festival, the 2nd Sohra International Half Marathon, the 7th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship, the 1st Meghalaya International Grandmaster Chess Tournament, and the 10th East Zonal Shooting Championship. The Chief Minister’s Under-12 Football Tournament and the Chief Minister’s Inter-School Athletic Meet had a combined participation of over 12,000 children from across Meghalaya.
Mining & Geology
The government is taking steps to ensure the scientific mining of coal. The Ministry of Coal, Government of India has approved 17 applications for grant of prospecting license. Out of 17 applications, six applicants have submitted their geological report to the Central Government and have obtained approval. The Mining Plan concerning four applicants has been approved by the Ministry of Coal and is awaiting environmental clearance. With these developments, it is expected that the scientific mining of coal will begin soon.
Food & Civil Supplies
The public distribution system of Meghalaya is being modernized through the infusion of technology. All FCI warehouses, registered wholesalers, and fair price shops in the state are being mapped through GPS to determine the cost-efficient routes for the movement of food grains from distributors to end beneficiaries.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, LPG connections in the State have increased to 72% within a short period due to close monitoring by the Deputy Commissioners. Another 2 lakh connections are being targeted by August 2024 which will increase LPG coverage of the State to 95%.
Forest & Environment
Meghalaya is implementing the country’s largest Payment for Ecosystem Services called ‘Green Meghalaya’ to protect its 76% forest cover through a participatory approach. Under the scheme, communities are paid
an annual grant for conserving forested areas. To date, almost 3,000 communities and individuals have been supported through the scheme for protecting almost 55,000 hectares of forested area. Another, 1450 hectares have been forested under the state plan of the Compensatory Afforestation Management Fund. 5 ongoing schemes under the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council covering an area of 4783 hectares have been recommended to the Government of India to facilitate scientific management of forests owned by the community.
Power
Meghalaya’s power generation and distribution sector saw several improvements this year. A grid substation at Phulbari and the recently commissioned hydroelectric project at Ganol have greatly augmented the installed capacity of Garo Hills. A similar project at Riangdo in the Khasi Hills is currently under consideration the government is also leveraging funds from the Asian Development Bank to improve the power distribution network across the state. Individuals and institutions will be provided substantial subsidies on the price of solar inverters and water heaters under the CM Solar Mission. This initiative aims to make uninterrupted power accessible to citizens in remote areas by using renewable sources.
Revenue & Disaster
Management
Extensive work on the restoration of boundary pillars in the India-Bangladesh border was carried out by the department last year. A joint survey for demarcation of the interstate boundary in the six areas of difference with Assam was also taken up. Under the Aapda Mitra scheme, community volunteers were provided training in basic relief and rescue tasks during emergencies such as floods, flash floods, and urban flooding.