SHILLONG:
Newly elected cabinet minister Ampareen Lyngdoh informed that she has been allotted the departments of Agriculture, Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Health and Law.
Speaking to reporters on March 8, she said, “So it’s a nice combination of responsibilities. I’m looking forward to this assignment and I hope that I will be able to do justice to the assignment given to me.”
Raising concerns pertaining to journalists in the state, she said that when she was the IPR minister in the state there were considerations made for pension benefits, housing facilities.
“I will put in a lot of effort to see whether or not we can make these two agendas happen for scribes,” she said.
She has been told that there have been some other developments in the DIPR and certain policies have been already designed.
As for the health department, Lyngdoh said, “With the Health Department, I think that this is a great opportunity for me to immediately attend to the immediate requirements of healthcare and women. I think that that will be one big area where I can definitely try to work hard in.”
She added that her focus will be addressing the issues of infant mortality rate (IMR) and the mother mortality rate (MMR), and improving the health facilities for women especially in rural Meghalaya.
She said, “I would also like to see that there will be a special focus for cancer treatment. I think that cancer now has become a very common ailment in the community of people in the state of Meghalaya, I will be zeroing down on that as well. And I will try to see whether or not we can improve facilities for cancer treatment.”
The other focus for her is to see the shortcomings of the MHIS and the Prime Minister’s health scheme.
Having been allotted the Agriculture department, Lyngdoh said, “Agriculture is the first time for me. I have always envied and appreciated the potential of agriculture in the state of Meghalaya.”
Stating that she will live up to the challenge of taking charge of the department, Lyngdoh said that she will look forward to implementation of facilities and opportunities for farmers.
As for the Law department, she said that the law department is new and she will familiarise herself with the department as well.