Our Special Correspondent
TURA:
In a gala show befitting a chief minister, Conrad K Sangma officially launched his poll campaign for his home constituency of South Tura, with music, dance and chanting of party slogans by over 5000 supporters in a mega event at the New Tura Law College field on Monday where he highlighted the work undertaken by his government in the past five years.
Acknowledging the support of his constituents, the chief minister said that their vote helped him to head the state for five years where crucial decisions were taken and development took place.
“Your vote gave me and Tura a record victory margin of over 8500 votes because of which I was able to do a lot of work in the last five years for the entire state, including Tura. The underdevelopment that prevailed for 15 long years was turned around in five years because of your support,” said Sangma as he hailed his voters and supporters.
Briefly highlighting the works of his government, he said that the MDA government headed by him ensured priority was not limited to one sector but overall, from education, sports and youth affairs, infrastructure to support for entrepreneurs.
“When I took over in 2018 I told media persons my priority would be to improve governance across all sectors. Good governance, a perfect delivery mechanism and proper administration was how we ensured development,” he said.
He pointed to the multifold increase in MGNREGA work from a paltry Rs 500-crore funding when he took over to an exponential hike of Rs 1800 crore by the end of his five year term.
This was made a reality because every MGNREGA project was checked and ensured delivery which helped the state avail more funding from the Centre, he said.
“From a bottom of 25-28th ranking among all states, we climbed up to be one of the topmost performing states under MGNREGA in just a span of five years. Similar was the situation on PMGSY road projects when our state got blacklisted earlier due to failure to complete projects. After we took over and ensured all road projects were completed, we have now been identified by the Centre as one of the best performing states,” said the chief minister.
He brought into focus how the state earlier could complete only 700 kms of roads, but from 2018 to 2022 a total of 2000 km of roads was able to be completed within the state.
“This is no mean feat for a small state like us,” he said.
Meghalaya JJM model for other states
States across the country are being encouraged by the Centre to emulate the success of the Meghalaya model when it comes to Jal Jeevan Mission water supply scheme.
“When Union Jal Shakti minister, Rajendra Shekhawat, visited Shillong he told media persons that other states ought to follow the successful model of the Meghalaya government in its implementation,” Sangma said.
The success in MGNREGA, PMGSY and JJM projects in the state has made New Delhi sit up and take notice, he said.
“Earlier perception of Meghalaya being unable to successfully utilise funds is no longer there. The talk in the corridors of power is that Meghalaya is making progress,” he said, which he termed an immense boost to the image of the state.
“Our goal is to make Meghalaya a Model State of the North East that others can emulate,” he said.
“Our dream is to make Meghalaya a Model State and be at par with the best in the country”, a confident chief minister said as he highlighted the various state projects being implemented, from Focus Mission, Focus Plus Mission, Progress mission, Ginger mission, Aroma Mission, Jackfruit Mission, Banana Mission, Lakadong (Turmeric) Mission.
He assured the public that the Focus and Focus Plus programmes to aid youth and farmers would continue to ensure coverage of each household and currently the figure stood at 3 lakh households.
Don’t be swayed by TMC WE Cards
Ridiculing Trinamool Congress for promising financial aid to youth and women “only” if they get voted to power in the state, the chief minister termed it as nothing short of a “bakhi or credit card” that the voters are being swayed with.
“Voters in Mukul Sangma’s very own constituency of Songsak and even Williamnagar have started to burn the WE cards after realising that there is no financial gain from it. The TMC promises to help the citizens only after elections, whereas we in the NPP are already helping them stand economically before elections. The NPP is not a party that lies to the people with promises of financial aid after elections,” lashed out Conrad Sangma.
He also mentioned about the government’s successful decision to help settle a long standing dispute over encroachment of government land by allocating land pattas to those who have been settled for many years and at the same time safeguarding the remaining areas for government projects.
Development in Tura town
Tura town which was deprived of development for so many years has finally had a major facelift and developmental works have reached across localities. “Our aim now is to make Tura as one of the best model towns of the North East” he said.
“Soon a state-of-the-art convention centre with an auditorium will be coming up, we will have an integrated administrative complex which will be a mini secretariat in Tura. There will be a skill development centre and a youth counselling centre coming up soon and funds have already been earmarked,” he said.
Select the best candidate
In what can be termed an attack on the antecedents of BJP candidate and former militant leader Bernard N Marak, Sangma urged the voters of South Tura to check the credentials and history of the candidates before casting their vote on February 27 saying one should choose who is best suited for the job.
“South Tura voters are not only voting for your MLA but also voting for the chief minister of the state. Your vote will create a ripple effect not just in Tura and Garo Hills but as well as the entire state because your decision will have a binding effect in the next government formation,” he said.
“When you cast your vote South Tura will witness a change in favour of development. Your vote will also give benefits for development of places like Siju, Williamnagar, entire Garo Hills, and even Khasi Hills. Your vote has already helped benefit places like Rongjeng where we were able to create its subdivision after a demand of more than 30 years. The people of Rongjeng not only thanked Conrad Sangma but also thanked the people of South Tura for voting him in,” reminded the chief minister.