Shillong, Nov 07: The Mountain Legislators’ Meet was held in NEC, Shillong, Meghalaya bringing together legislators from different mountain states to deliberate on and examine key policy measures and highlight issues from the vantage point of the mountain states. The Meet was organized by Integrated Mountain Initiative and hosted by Meghalaya Integrated Mountain Development Initiative (MIMDI) and Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU).
The conference, convened by the Member of Parliament from Tura, Ms Agatha Sangma, chaired by MP of Shillong, Shri Vincent Pala, and co-chaired by Shri P.D. Rai, Former MP of Sikkim (LS), was attended by MPs, MLAs and representatives of Autonomous District Councils from Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and members of IMI, MIMDI, Swiss Development Corporation, SELCO Foundation and ICIMOD.
The members raised several critical areas of concern with regard to the future of livelihoods and entrepreneurship factoring in climate change. Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Tura, Ms Agatha Sangma highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing and scaling up of best practices for effectively tacking common issues of the Indian Himalayan Region.
The MP of Shillong, Shri Vincent Pala also added that legislators can make a huge difference if they empower themselves by upgrading knowledge and finding sustainable solutions through collaborative efforts.
The discussion highlighted the need forsensitization of general public, bureaucracy and politicians on the issues of climate change and the ways in which legislators can use policy instruments to minimize the impact of climate change.
Acknowledging the need for a sustained, integrated effort to addressing key issues of the region, it was also highlighted that the youth and entrepreneurs will have an active role to play. The topic of Jhum cultivation and balancing traditional livelihoods with ecology was discussed extensively.
The legislators also discussed in depth the importance of alternative sustainable livelihoods. The importance of adding environmental education in the school and college curriculums was also added.
The legislators also acknowledged the importance of data and micro-data in guiding policy and concluded that more needs to be done in this aspect in the Indian Himalayan Region.The legislators and representatives thanked Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) for bringing together this platform to these issues.
