Meghalaya Congress today observed Meghalaya Statehood Day at Congress Bhavan

Shillong, Jan 21: On the eve of our 50 years of our statehood, we at the Congress would like to look back in warm retrospection of the events and initiatives that has shaped our state’s existence and progress.

The First initiative that ensured the preservation of our unique identity was with the advent of the 6th schedule which served the interest of our land and people for the 20 years prior to our statehood. This important piece of legislation was carved out from when the constitution came into existence which was in 1952 and we, as citizens, benefited greatly.

Rev. JJM Nichols Roy was one of the leaders who was instrumental in ensuring the legislation was enacted. Through this, our unique community setup was protected, our Durbar system and grass root level governance were preserved and continued to flourish till date.

The 6th Schedule ensured that our land was also not alienated, but also preserved.The inflection point towards our demand for a separate state stemmed out from the dominance that Assam was starting to exert on the socio political fabric of the indigenous tribal people of the state which would in turn dilute the unique identity of the population.

Through a non-violent movement, the citizens of the state, young and oldcame out and raised their voice for a new dispensation and to ensure the rights of the indigenous population is well protected.

The leaders of the Hill state movement along with the people  exerted much pressure in demandingfor a hill state which subsequently led to the promise made by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on December 27, 1966 during her visit to Shillong to give the people their right to separate recognition and identity which eventually led to the creation of our Beloved State in 1972.

In these 50 years of our journey as a state, Meghalaya has faired well, in many indicators of development. We have come a long way and there’s more to ground to cover as we forge ahead. The achievements which the state made from its founding days to the early years of the millennium under the visionary leadership of Congress Leaders, cannot be overlooked.

There is much to celebrate about, The Congress has steadfastly pushed for many projects and affecting many sectors that were instrumental to our Progress.  The setting up of the First Central university in the North East, North Eastern Hill University is a testimony of the intention to improve the literacy standing of the state’s citizens.

There were many more feathers in the cap which were added over the years, like the establishment of NEIGRIHMS (North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences) , a health centre of National importance with world class medical facilities at par with the best in the country, has gone a long way in establishing Meghalaya as a centre for medical treatment and medical study.

Then there was the IIM (Indian Institute of Management), which put our state in the map for excellence in Management Education followed by NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), NIT (National Institute of Technology) etc.

All of which showed the progress we have made over the years in improving the literacy of the population and given the opportunity for our students in getting very good quality higher education.

The thrust that was focussed on primary education was also instrumental in ensuring that Meghalaya continues to perform well in literacy rate over the period, Primary schools were established in every nook and corner of the sate.

The Congress has also never overlooked the plight of the rural folks and downtrodden, giving them opportunities to rise up the socio-economic ladder towards betterment of one’s life.  Ensuring that Primary Health Centres (PHCs) were established in every Block Head Quarter only ensured that health services reached the last mile and the public at large.

The Congress also brought about MHIS (Meghalaya Health insurance scheme) which tremendously eased the burden on health care cost for the common folks. This scheme also tremendously improved the health care system in the state with more and more people being able to get proper health care facilities.

Through the NFSA (National Food Security Act), we ensured that no family goes hungry and foodgrains were made available to the public at large for a nominal cost and made available for all.

The Congress had also programs that ensured certain diseases were eradicated from our state and country as a whole, diseases like Polio, Small Pox and Leprosy were all wiped out from our society with the political will and focus of the Congress Government.

The MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)  brought about by the Congress under the able leadership of Madam Sonia Gandhi, chairman of the UPA Govt.  had far reaching economic security to the public via the 100 days employment scheme in the state.

Dubbed by UN as being the best poverty alleviation and employment scheme the world has witnessed, this scheme continues to be the backbone scheme in our society. Especially during this time of hardship which is pronounced even more by the pandemic. The scheme has in essence touched more than 5 lacs family in the recent times in our state alone.

Other than these, the Congress has also spearheaded many projects and programs that has helped one and all, like the green revolution that ensured food security to one and all, then the Co-operative society movement, where one of the offshoots was our very own Meghalaya Co-operative Apex Bank.

This Institution was specifically designed to cater to the rural population with focus on Agriculture and Allied sectors through loans and Micro Financing.

The Congress also ensured that Public administration was taken to the people’s Doorstep. Many Districts and sub divisions were created during the Congress’ tenure, CNRD blocks were also created and they continue to be great building blocks to ensure development reaches every nook and corner of the state.

In the field of Agriculture, there were many projects and initiatives that were taken to ensure that the farmers are able to monetize their produce and create value for better realization of their efforts like the creation of Tea Processing units, Coffee Boards, Cashew Nuts processing units and even Orange Orchards.

Horticulture Hubs were also created to ensure promotion of Horticulture, floriculture and mushroom farming. To ease and aid distribution& marketing of Agri produce, the Congress was also instrumental in bringing programs like 1917i-teams where the objective was to provide market access to the farmers’ produce.

There was a tremendous thrust in improving the power generation and distribution scenario of the state and the Congress had taken many steps toward the same from creation of new Power generationunits, Upgrading existing hydro power generation capability, improving capacity and transmission,distribution systems.

The industrial emphasis of the Party led to many initiatives to improve the industrial productivity in the state from the establishment of EPIP (Export Promotion Industrial Parks) which led to many new industrial units springing up in our state.

 

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