The MLA from 17-Shillong North Mr Adelbert urged govt to increase more groceries stores

Shillong, March 29: The MLA from 17-Shillong North Constituency Mr Adelbert Nongrum today has sent a DO Letter to the Chief Minister Mr Cornad K Sangma asking the Government to allowed more grocery shop in different locality so that people will be able to maintain social distance and to avoid rush from the public.

The DO letter sent to the Chief Minister form the KHNAM MLA is given as it is written by the MLA,

Dear Sir,

In view of the prevailing situation in the State may I please draw your attention to my following observations and suggestions:

1. On receiving information on Saturday evening the 28^th March 2020 at around 7.30 p.m. I went to areas adjacent to Anjalee Cinema Hall and I witnessed a chaos where a good number of Retailers from Khasi and Jaintia hills districts were still collecting goods from the Wholesalers beyond the curfew hours. I really appreciate the Magistrates and the Government officials who were thereand tried their best to manage the situation. In the end, no one goes back home empty handed.With reference to the above situation,(a) I suggest the government to ask the retailers to send a message via short messaging service (SMS) their requirements to their wholesalers a day before coming to Shillong and to arrange their own vehicles with proper passes from their respective districts. In case of remote areas where availability of transport is a problem, police trucks and vehicles may be arranged.(b) To avoid people gathering together in huge numbers in Shillong, why doesn’t the government send the goods to different districts accordingly? Keeping in mind, the social distancing is not applicable at all since many of them keep on rushing and standing amongst each other within inches.
2. I also wanted to suggest the government to increase more groceries stores so as to enable the people to buy their commodities in a distanced manner. To avoid people rushing at the same time and to ease the situation, why doesn’t the government allow the shops to open normally? So that the people will maintain the social distancing as instructed by the Central Government.
3. In view of the heavy concentration of population in the main city (Shillong) the threat from Covid-19 is very serious and more dangerous once it sets foot in our community. The domestic workers who reside in different parts of Shillong are unable to go to work because of the lockdown, therefore many of them wants to go to their respective native land. They are broke since they cannot earn anymore and cannot make ends meet, ration is decreasing day by day and most importantly they want to be together with their family.To ease the congestion, I suggest the government to make transport arrangements for those people who are stranded in the city and who are willing to go back to their respective village/ native land. By doing so, the concerned authoritiescan make an announcement and with the support from the different locality heads the government can get the exact numbers of people willing to go and they can arrange the transportation at one go.
4. For students from our neighboring States studying in Shillong who are stranded in the city, the government may arrange their transportation up to a junction from where they shall be picked up by their respective State’s officials after prior arrangement with them.
5. Awareness about Covid-19: The government should repeatedly make announcements at regular intervals regarding the possibilities of what this virus is capable of. The people are not taking this matter seriously since our State is still in a safe stage; they are neglecting the government guidelines. People should cooperate with the government and follow the government instructions; they should not take things for granted. The government should note that bringing down the body temperature temporarily is medically possible. Most often many of the people panic too much and this may lead to panic attack. The government should assure the people about the preventive measures which has been taken and ask the people to cooperate with the government in fighting this deadliest virus. If people are home quarantined but they are freely wandering around the streets then the government should even take drastic steps in order to contain such people.

With Regards,

(Bah AdelbertNongrum)

MLA, 17-North Shillong

Mr. Conrad K. Sangma

The Hon’ble Chief Minister,

Government of Meghalaya.