Ampati, February 13:The Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma today inaugurated the new school building of Mukdangra Secondary School in South West Garo Hills district, which was sponsored under Inter-State Border Area Development Programme (ISBADP) 2014-15 through the Border Area Development Department. The school was established in February, 1980 and the construction of the school building was completed last year at a total cost of Rs.30 lakh only.
An impressive function was held at the school premises, near Garobadha to mark the occasion which was attended by the local MLA of Rangsakona constituency and Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs Minister, etc. Zenith Sangma as the guest of honour, besides Government Chief Whip W.D.Sangma, MDC of Dengnakpara S.R.M.Sangma, Deputy Commissioners of West and South West Garo Hills, Pravin Bakshi and C.V.D. Diengdoh, officials of the department, other district officials and School Managing Committee members, teachers & students of the school.
In his address on the occasion, the Chief Minister expressed his joy to dedicate the school building to the people of the area which would become a permanent asset in the education sector and urged upon the local residents and the SMC members to take ownership of the school and take it to a higher level to attract more students of the area to join the school.
Highlighting the challenges of creating developmental schemes and then allotting them to different areas according to priority, the Chief Minister said that ISBADP was launched in 2012 to bridge the critical gaps in development along the inter-state border areas because the difficulties faced by people in these areas were similar to those in the international borders. “It is a State programme which is not found in any other states across the country”, he said.
Reiterating on the need to have trained teachers to impart quality education, Dr. Sangma spoke of his Government’s initiative to open more teacher training schools and to give a scholarship of Rs.5000/- so that the youths who aspire to become teachers can avail the benefit. He also informed the gathering that community colleges would be set up across the State which would be managed by communities themselves and which would not be confined to only the State capital or district headquarters.
The Chief Minister also spelt out a number of developmental projects coming up across the State as well as in the area, including the national highway projects being funded by JICA. Stating that IMR & MMR rate was highest in the region, he said that more maternity & child hospitals would be established in the State and one of them would be located between Garobadha and Mukdangra. Referring to the memorandum submitted by the Mukdangra SMC, he assured the gathering that the approach road from the main highway to the school and beyond would be sanctioned in March this year and that additional fund for extension of the school building would also be sanctioned soon. “There is a momentum of growth and development in the State” he said and appealed to the people not to stop this momentum of growth because once it stops it would be difficult to get back that momentum.
Sports & Youth Affairs Minister & local MLA, Zenith Sangma briefed the gathering how he had visited all the secondary schools under his area and had listed out the schools that required building infrastructure, including Mukdangra secondary school which was functioning in a small dilapidated building. He informed that number of school buildings were being constructed under various schemes like ISBADP and ADB-funded Human Capital Development project, among others.
Government Chief Whip W.D. Sangma and Deputy Commissioner West Garo Hills, Pravin Bakshi were among others who also spoke on the occasion. According to the Assistant Director, E.G.R. Marak, 9 multi-facility centres and road projects have been completed in Garo Hills and several livelihood projects and skill development programmes have been taken up under ISBADP.
