STAFF CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: Chief Minister and NPP (National People's Party) leader Conrad K Sangma is on a campaigning spree in the five districts of Garo hills for the elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC).
He is now wooing the people of West Khasi Hills district by announcing the proposed upgradation of Mairang sub division into a district.
This announcement is expected to give the NPP candidate quite a political milage.
The NPP national president was camping in the Garo Hills for the past eight days to garner support for his party candidates with a series of public rallies. The Chief Minister arrived in Mairang on Wednesday.
Thanking the people of Mairang for the massive support for the NPP, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said that the occasion was also a platform to discuss the issues pertaining to Mairang. He also stated that since last year the government is trying to emulate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) model of the United Nations and started ranking the districts on the SDGs wherein it was found West Khasi Hills scored the last.
''The districts that ranked in the bottom two, viz., South West Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills, show that there is systematic and administrative issues in these districts; and hence there is the need of an administrative unit at Mairang,'' he said. He announced that Mairang sub division will be upgraded into a district as there was an urgent need for the people of the area.
He added, ''The government has always stressed on bringing the administration closer to the people'', and pointed out, ''There are demands from different quarters across the State for civil subdivisions, districts and administrative units.'' He also stated that all the demands are being looked into by the High Level Committee headed by the Chief Secretary. While creating new administrative units there is also a need for the government to be calculative in terms of funding; and, the government has to balance between creating new administrative units and strengthening the existing ones,'' he said. He assured the masses that all demands for such units will be examined by the High Level Committee.
Chief Minister Sangma also said that the government is working tirelessly to bring more developments schemes for the people. He informed that in spite of 2020 being a very challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was also one of the most productive years of the State. This was reflected in the work that is going on at the grassroot level.
The Chief Ministed also highlighted the developmental projects in different sectors like Education, Health and Police during the current financial year and in the next two years.
''The government in the last three years has worked tirelessly to improve overall governance and delivery system in the grassroot level to ensure efficient implementation of schemes and governance and will continue to bring in reforms to take the State forward,'' he said.