By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 24: Meghalaya’s wait for more than 24 years for a permanent Assembly building is expected to end soon.
The construction of the Assembly building at New Shillong Township is almost complete. The dome on the central part of the building was erected recently and the only external work left is the placing of a minar (turret) above it.
An official said the turret, designed and constructed elsewhere in India, will reach Shillong on Tuesday. “The minar will be erected by the end of April,” he said.
While the structural work is more or less completed, the focus is shifting to the interior work of the building.
It was learnt that a New Delhi-based company has been selected to execute the interior work, which is expected to begin soon.
Assembly Speaker, Thomas A Sangma on Monday inspected and chaired a comprehensive review meeting pertaining to the construction work.
Following the meeting, the Speaker expressed satisfaction with the progress of the work.
Deputy Speaker Timothy D Shira, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, officials from the Assembly Secretariat, and representatives from various line departments attended the meeting.
House history
The first session of the Meghalaya Assembly was held at the old Council Hall of the composite Assam state in Shillong at 2 pm on March 25, 1972, with Jor Manik Syiem as the acting Speaker.
When Meghalaya was an autonomous state from April 2, 1970, to January 21, 1972, the first session of the provisional Assembly consisting of 41 members – 38 elected indirectly and three nominated – was held at the District Council Hall in Tura at 8.30 am on April 14, 1970. Simon Jenkin Duncan was the acting Speaker then.
The hunt for a site for the construction of the new Assembly building began after the old wooden House of 1937 vintage was destroyed in a fire on January 9, 2001.
It has since functioned from a hall in the heritage Brookside Bungalow, which was once the retreat of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.