SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has assured that the government will soon look into the demand to upgrade Sohra subdivision to a district. The assurance was given to a delegation of Sohra District Demand Forum which met him on October 26.
Addressing the press after the meeting, general secretary of the forum John Thabah said, “The meeting was positive. The chief minister has assured that he will look into the demand seriously this time. There are some issues that the government is trying to sort out. The chief minister said that he will be sending this matter to the chief secretary to initiate the process.”
Asked whether the forum expects to get the Sohra district before the upcoming 2023 elections, he said that it all depends on the government.
“We are not putting any timeline to the government, because everything has to be done properly, we are not rushing,” he said.
He added that the forum will not pressure the government although the demand to create a new district has been voiced for the last 15-20 years.
Thabah said that the forum is pursuing the demand diplomatically and said that it depends on the government if it wants to declare a district in one day or a year, it can do so.
He informed that more than 200 villages will be included if Sohra becomes a new district and around 3-4 villages face geographical inconvenience for which the chief minister will sort out the matter.
Justifying the demand, he said that it is one of the oldest subdivisions in the state and most of the oldest have been upgraded.
He added that creation of Sohra district will be beneficial from the socio-economic and developmental aspects and it is on this note that the chief minister called them for talks on Wednesday.
Thabah informed that the chief minister will call the forum again for talks.
It may be mentioned that the demand to upgrade Sohra civil subdivision to a district with its headquarters in Sohra has been a long pending demand with former Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker and Shella MLA late Donkupar Roy also voiced his agreement to this demand.
The forum said the creation of a new district is necessitated as remote areas can benefit from the administration being close to the villages.