Shillong, Dec 21: For the First time in Meghalaya an open interaction was held on 20th December 2013, by the State Planning Board with the 263 Village Employment Councils (VEC) under Nongstoin C&RD Block, West Khasi Hills District, in Nongstoin to hear their suggestions on the Progress of Schemes, the implementation and achievements of various developmental schemes .
Is was a first of its kind in Meghalaya when an open interaction was held by the State Planning Board with the 263 Village Employment Councils (VEC) under Nongstoin C&RD Block, in Nongstoin.
A meeting of the officer bearers namely Chairman, Secretary, and Women’s representatives of the Village Employment Councils (VEC) was held where more than three hundred VEC members attended the interaction.
The meeting was open interaction was held at the Nongstoin C&RD Block office, and was opened by the Shri. V. Swer, MCS, BDO, Nongstoin, and chaired by Shri. John F Kharshiing, Co-Chairman, MSPB, & Chairman, Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya, in presence of the fifteen Gram Sevaks and officials from the State Rural Employment Society.
Prior to the meeting the Co-Chairman had a brief meeting with the BDO and staff including the fifteen Gram Sevak’s who provided critical support to the delivery system of the State Government, to personally listen to the challenges that lay before Nongstoin C & RD Block. During the meeting with the BDO and officials he suggested a number of steps that could be taken by the Block to facilitate and enhance crucial data and census for the Government.
After this meeting the open session was held wherein all were allowed to speak and to give their views, all were requested to be brief and were given 2 minutes each to present their views and suggestions.
The representatives of the VECs from 280 villages, from far flung areas of West Khasi Hills expressed their satisfaction and gratitude to the Government of India, as to the nature of the MGNREGS, and all agreed that this flag ship program of the Central Government had indeed started slowly changing their villages.
After a very detail discussion and participation in this very unique interaction the unanimous views and suggestions was that the State Planning Board consider recommendation to the C&RD Department and the State Government for review of the serious technical manpower shortage under Nongstoin C&RD Block, and other C&RD Blocks, to enhance the daily wage to realistic rates, to facilitate time bound release of wages, to address all the communication and infrastructure bottlenecks such as the need for faster IT services in view of the mandatory (online) uploading of all estimates, proposals and musterolls, to review the rates of raw materials such as cement and steel, to allow construction of footbridges as one of the permissible activities to connect agricultural fields and villages which have no proper motorable roads, and to provide for honorarium for the officials of the Village Employment Councils for their services which they have been undertaking on a voluntarily basis since the inception of the MNREGS in 23006-2007, and where such activities required their full time and attention.
After the open session, the Co-Chairman, Meghalaya State Planning Board, Working Group -3, informed them that the State Planning Board will be visiting other C&RD Blocks in the State to conduct similar such interactions to receive first hand information from the VEC. They were also requested to send any other suggestions to further strengthen the delivery systems of the various schemes of the C&RD department in writing through the respective BDO, or directly to the Bah John F Kharshiing, Co-Chairman, (mobile 9436102663 – office-9856022735), on or before February 2014. He stated that the suggestions would enable the Meghalaya State Planning Board to make suitable recommendations to the State Government. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by the BDO who thanked the Meghalaya State Planning Board which is the policy body for the State Government for conducting such interaction with the stakeholders, and hoped that the views expressed by the participants would be taken up by the MSPB with the C&RD department and the State Government.(SP News)
