By Our Reporter

SHILLONG: A complaint was lodged on Tuesday against a voter who allegedly impersonated as an indigenous person though he was found to be a non-tribal residing in Nongthymmai.

According to the FIR lodged by CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing, one Yunus Nongrum had been impersonating and using the scheduled tribe title of Nongrum.

Kharshiing in the FIR filed before Additional SP (crime), East Khasi Hills further said that neither the voter’s mother , Jamila Khatoon nor his father Lamia Mo are tribals, yet they managed to obtain Nongrum title.

Yunus also showed in his EPIC that his mother is Jamila Nongrum whereas her real name is Jamila Khatoon. The CSWO asked the police to take appropriate action.

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG The proscribed HNLC has called a 20-hour bandh in Meghalaya on Republic Day. The customary shutdown has been called from 10 pm of January 25 to 6 pm of January 26. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, HNLC publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw said that Church-goers, milkmen, media persons and patients have been exempted from the purview of the bandh.

From Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi: Indira Shandil, wife of Dr Dhaniram Shandil, AICC secretary in-charge, Meghalaya, passed away after a brief illness at AIIMS, here, on Tuesday. She was 57 and is survived by one son and two daughters.

Several prominent Congress leaders including Oscar Fernandes, Janardan Dwivedi, former Union Minister Vincent Pala, Maj Ved Prakash, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh attended the funeral.

Name: Empower Warbah

(Age: 29 years)

Occupation: Social Activist

(A National Youth Awardee)

Eradication of poverty among people in the rural villages, providing of proper drinking water for the rural masses should be the top priority together with an overall development of infrastructure like construction of roads and footpath as villages are the backbone of the State. Creation of more job opportunities for the educated youth is the undeniable need of the hour.

Name: George M Kharwanniang (Age: 25 years)

Occupation: Bank employee

There should be a regular check on Illegal Immigrants to the State which will be beneficial to the whole State and at the same time generate employment opportunities for the local youths in Govt. as well as Private Sectors which will indirectly reduce criminal activities. An uninterrupted power and water supply should be ensured. Construction of roads in rural areas and supporting people from low financial background should also be the focus this time.

Name: Allan West

(Age: 39 years)

Occupation: Journalist and

Documentary Filmmaker

The focus this time round should be at bringing in a strong mining policy to check unregulated and unscientific mining in the state which will also safeguard the rivers and aquatic life of the state, ensuring political stability which is a must for ensuring overall growth of the state and providing basic needs of the people in the rural areas like Road communication, Healthcare and education. Improving the law and order situation in Garo Hills, introduction of a strong system (maybe the 3 Tier ID card) to check influx and a strong Lokayukta should be put in place to check corruption are other important facets that needs to be considered.

Name: Section Syiemlieh

(Age: 26 years)

Occupation: Senior Journalist

Power supply has been a cause of concern and an effort has to be taken to ensure its uninterrupted productivity. Rural villages must be provided with clean drinking water and should have access to better facilities like roads and services. Financial assistance and support should be given to the orchard farmers from Mawsynram since it is their main sources of livelihood and the State can benefit a lot from its exports. Setting up of more health centres in various parts of the State for the benefit of the people in the rural areas should also be stressed upon.

Name: Ksanborlang Pathaw

(Age: 37 years)

Occupation: Teacher

Political parties should include corruption in their manifesto as an issue and a menace which requires immediate attention. A proper and transparent mechanism must be put into place to eradicate corruption right from its root and every party should come up with a complete and people-oriented manifesto. Development should be one of the issues which should find space in every party’s manifesto since without development, the long cherished dreams of forefathers and forerunners of the hill state movement to see Meghalaya as a prosperous state, will remain a dream.

Name: Bivan Rodriques Mukhim (Age: 30 years)

Occupation: Salestian Brother

The most important thing that every political party should include in their manifesto is equal development in the rural areas. Development should not be Shillong-centric but the same should move to the rural areas where a lot remains to be done. The simplest thing that should come about is politicians implementing what they promise before being elected. Development of tourism is an equally important component for every political party to include in their manifesto. This is one sector which could boost the revenue and economic income of the state, so the same should be looked at from every aspect. There should be a proper utilization of centrally sponsored schemes as it is regularly seen that on many occasions, the Meghalaya government could not fully implement or utilize the funds sanctioned by the central government for the state and the funds amounting to crores of rupees had to be sent back to the centre.

Name: Pramod Kumar

(Age: 28 years)

Occupation: Shopkeeper

MLAs can change the future of any constituency by implementing the various Government schemes in its right perspectives. Political parties should highlight the sectors of education, sanitation, employment, roads and communications in their manifestos.

Name: Anthony Raphael Mawrie (Age: 27 years)

Occupation: Senior sub-editor at

a multi-national company

The state often gets a bad name due to its pathetic road conditions be it in the urban areas or the rural areas. This has to be worked out as it hampers development in the tourism sector. Besides, water scarcity is another problem which hits every household not only in the city but also the suburbs. Also, Shillongites needs to grab hold of all the traffic rules. It is for the traffic branch to keep check and sort out a proper mechanism to manage traffic congestion which is becoming a headache for the people. Unemployment has also become a major problem in the state and the political parties should keep this in mind while drafting their manifesto. There is a need to promote the skills development and capacity building programmes in the State.

Name: Premankur Dam

(Age: 32 years)

Occupation: Teacher

Expectations are less as fulfillment of promises can be negated. Youths should be the focus of any political party or any candidates as young people can change the destiny of the state.

Name: Jhuma Barua

(Age: 26 years)

Occupation: Student

The exercise of franchise is the most powerful tool of a citizen in building a developed state. The issue of Wahumkhrah must be the agenda of any candidate who is contesting from Pynthorumkhrah as though various discussions have take place but the river continues to be in the same condition what it was before.

(Compiled by Lamphrang Nongspung/ Aafaque Hussain/ Ibankyntiew Mawrie)

Legislators and new contestants have always tried or rather struggled to meet the growing expectations of people,

not to forget that on most occasions they have failed in the process. Citizens hold legislators to account principally for the services that they are able to deliver outside the Assembly, not for their law-making role or their ability to oversee the Executive.

Alongside development one should notice that despite a new government coming to power every five years, or less in case of Meghalaya, the general situation has continued to deteriorate and people have not seen any improvement in their lives. Even with ample time, roads (by-passes) were not opened, projects failed to be implemented, armed rebel groups were not brought to the negotiation table and other problems have remained.

‘Development’ remains the one big word that can raise a government to the pinnacles of success and ‘Failure’, the foundation shaking jolt. Once again, the power is in the hands of the public to elect proper representatives who can take their aspirations forward and improve the scenario that can, at any given moment, be game for a face lift.

The voices of the public or in proper terminology, ‘the receiving end’ grows louder as the final attempt to at least see their problems being taken up in upcoming manifestoes, implementation of which has a five-year deadline till 2018. These are the voices that matters the most, because the government is not only for the ‘high and mighty’. Change could be brought about with the push of a button but the button should be linked to a chain of fulfilled promises.

The Shillong Times contacted several citizens of Meghalaya drawn from a cross section of the society to draw up a People’s Manifesto and to know their expectations from the new government that will be in the helm of affairs post Feb 28.

From Our Correspondent

NONGSTOIN: The KSU Mawthadraishan Circle had sought clarification from Dr Advisor Pariong, the Congress candidate from Nongstoin, on the alleged diversion of schemes from the Special Rural Works Programme (SWRP) from erstwhile Pariong to Nongstoin constituency.

In a press statement issued by GK Syiem, vice president of the KSU Mawthadraishan Circle, the Union expressed shock over media reports that Dr Pariong had donated an ambulance to a local taxi union in Nongstoin.

The Union also alleged that the ambulance belonged to the people of Pariong and it was a part of the SWRP scheme for the constituency.

The KSU alleged that all the playgrounds and roads that were constructed in Nongstoin at Dr Pariong’s behest were schemes which were diverted from Pariong and actually belonged to the people of Pariong. The Union also stated that when Dr Pariong was the Health Minister of the State, he had promised various schemes for people of Pariong from the MLA Local Area Development Scheme, but the schemes were yet to be allotted.

Alleging that the legislator had done nothing for the people of Pariong, the KSU challenged him to name a single scheme that he had provided to Pariong.

The Union has asked Dr Pariong to return all the schemes allotted to Nongstoin to Pariong before the election.

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG: The Association of Qualified Grade-IV, 2011, East Khasi Hills would hold an emergent meeting at the Khasi National Dorbar Hall, Mawkhar on Thursday at 11 am, its president Arthur B Kurbah said in a statement on Tuesday.

From Our Correspondent

NONGPOH: With the aim and objective to avoid acute shortage of drinking water and to prevent the State from shortage of portable water, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) of North Eastern Region, Guwahati, Under the Ministry of Water Resources launched a two-day training course on village level aquifer management plan to preserve the ground water on Tuesday at C&RD Block office, Umsning.

Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioners Akash Deep, who inaugurated the training, and P Kalita, Scientist, CGWB, were the special invitees at the programme.

Local headmen and local people from different villages of Umsning C&RD Block attended the training. Scientists from the Central Ground Water Board including Dr MA Farooqi, Tapan Chakraborty, DK Borah, AR Tariang and KM Anu Radha Bhatia were the resource persons.

Akash Deep lauded the effort of the Central Ground Water board for organizing the training.

He said that preservation of ground water through scientific method is very important to cater to acute shortage of drinking water faced by the general public in every nook and corner of the State.

He appealed all the trainees to properly utilize all the knowledge they gather from the training and he hoped that with the cooperation of the public, ground water resource can be preserved for a better future of the society and the community.

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which has been hit by severe financial crunch, has appealed its customers to pay their outstanding amount at the earliest for better and improved telephone services.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, BSNL General Manager, George S Marshal said that the BSNL has an outstanding amount of Rs 30 crore against 36,000 cases in Meghalaya.

There are 233 customers having an outstanding amount of more than Rs 1 lakh each, while 594 customers have outstanding amount ranging from Rs 50000 to Rs 1 lakh.

The official also informed that the maximum outstanding by an individual customer in Meghalaya is Rs 11.8 lakh.

“It is our money and it should come back to us,” Marshal said, while adding that the company can also offer fifty per cent discount to those people who have genuine financial problems.

When asked about the action being planned against the defaulters, Marshal said, “We are not threatening anybody but we want our money as it is our right.”

The official, however, said that the BSNL would have to publish the names of the defaulters as a last resort to recover the outstanding amount.

In addition to the problem of outstanding payment, the BSNL is bearing the brunt of damaged optical fibres due to the regular road widening activities in the State and city.

The official recalled an incident when the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) while undertaking a work in Upper New Colony had exposed the optical fibres and the PWD had asked for an amount of Rs 28,000 from the BSNL to cover the same.

Reacting to a query about the poor telecom connectivity in the State, Marshall said that the problem could be overcome with the construction of a telephone corridor along the national highways.

“A Telecom corridor is needed to safeguard the fibres as if often gets damaged,” he added.

The BSNL General Manager also informed that all the North Eastern states have sought an amount of Rs 800 crore from the Central Government for telecom infrastructure improvement in the region which will lead to better telecom connectivity in the region.

Marshal, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction that more people were now using BSNL connection in the rural areas with as many as 5000 new connections being issued every month on an average.

The BSNL, in the recent past, had also launched Wimax services for fast internet and presently it is available in 28 locations across the State.

From Our Correspondent

Jowai: In order to ensure that new eligible voters are aware on the usage of the working of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the Assembly election to be held on February 23, the District Election Officer of West Jaintia Hills District has informed that EVM awareness campaigns would be organised in the District especially in rural and remote areas to give an opportunity to the voters to handle the EVM prior to the polls so that they have ‘hands on experience’ about using EVMs.

The campaign will be headed by the Nodal Officer in-charge EVMs and assisted by four teams of EVM campaigners and will be conducted mostly at centrally-located places preferably in the major markets locations of the district.

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG: The FKJGP, East Zone, Williamnagar has complained that the lone SBI ATM located in the Main Market in Williamnagar has been non-functional for many days now causing problems for customers.