Shillong (Meghalaya), June 16: Press Information Bureau, Shillong today organised a Vartalap – Media Workshop on 9 Years of Seva, Sushasan and Garib Kalyan to mark the completion of nine years of Government led by PM Narendra Modi in Shillong.
Meghalaya Governor , Phagu Chauhan today attended the Vartalap as the Chief Guest. “The three words—Seva, Sushasan and Garib Kalyan define the journey of the nine years of the Narendra Modi Government, said the Governor while addressing the Vartalap. He opined that the northeast has witnessed an unprecedented pace of progress from infrastructural developments to enhanced connectivity.
Speaking on the government’s efforts on unlocking the immense potential of the region, the Governor highlighted the progress in Meghalaya in these nine years. Meghalaya has made significant progress during these years even as he lauded Meghalaya government for taking forward the Prime Minister’s vision of a developed nation in all spheres,” he said.
“These nine years have been dedicated to bring about development which is inclusive, progressive, and sustainable. The government has been steadfast in its commitment of creating opportunity for all citizens. The government has always believed in setting challenging targets, and achieving them before the set deadline,” the Meghalaya Governor said.
He added that there had been an unprecedented shift towards people-centric and result-oriented governance. In order to discuss about the initiatives and transformation, the intellects, media persons and Government officials have gathered today.
Highlighting the role played by the Meghalaya Government in India’s effort to bring development in every sector, Commissioner and Secretary, Planning, Government of Meghalaya Joram Beda informed that the Government of Meghalaya has been in the front row in terms of integrating development and allied agendas of the Indian government at central level as well as at United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals at global level.
According to Beda, the Government has identified six strategic pillars of development i.e., Human Development, Infrastructure, Primary Sector, Entrepreneurship, Environment, and Governance, adding the State has focused on performance and output-based approach towards development by making it an integral part of the planning process.
“Over the last 5 years, Meghalaya has been among the leading performers in implementation of various centrally sponsored schemes. Programs like MGNREGS, PMGSY and Jal Jeevan Mission are being implemented at an accelerated rate. Several mission mode interventions in the sectors of horticulture, livestock and fisheries have improved the income of over one lakh farmers and put us on track to doubling farmers’ incomes,” the Commissioner and Secretary said while informing that the State has made noticeable progress in health indices over the last few years as the immunization rates have increased from 57% to 91% and institutional deliveries have increased from 46% to 64%.
Meghalaya’s strongest contribution over the last five years has been the development of a collaborative model of governance based on working together with traditional institutions, women’s groups, farmers’ cooperatives, and youth organizations to create a strong ‘Team Meghalaya’.
He added that the State Government is dedicated to bringing about development, which is inclusive, progressive, and sustainable. Government has always believed in setting challenging targets and achieving them before the set deadline.
Sharing details about the achievement of Meghalaya in last few years, he informed that on July 2022, Meghalaya was awarded the Best Performer title in the States Startup Ranking 2021 by the Government of India.
Meghalaya has also been ranked as “Emerging business ecosystem” in the EoDB ranking framework by DPIIT. Meghalaya has been among the top performers in the Jal Jeevan Mission. The number of households with tap connections has increased from 4,550 in 2019 to more than 3 lakhs today. In addition, in the last five years, improving the road network has been a big priority as -4217 km of rural roads have been constructed under PMGSY and Government is also launching the ‘Chief Minister’s Rural Connectivity Scheme’ to connect the villages not covered under PMGSY, he added.
It was also informed that the number of maternal deaths in the State has reduced by 53% over the last two years and to further reduce the MMR and IMR, the State is implementing a technology initiative called the MOTHER program under which every pregnant woman in the State is tracked and provided customized support.
Smti Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times talked on Propelling Life: Environment and Sustainability. She said that the gap between the implementation and planning of central programmes has to be bridged as every Government scheme and programme must reach the last mile.
Lamenting that many rules for protection of environment continues to be violated, Mukhim said that the natural resources like Rivers and forest must be protected and there is no excuse for destructive livelihood. Giving a critical analysis of the implementation of Central programmes in the state, she said that there is too much environmental studies in classrooms with no connection to the real world.
Lauding judiciary for doing more to prevent environment disaster in the state, she advocated on the need to make environmental clearances more stringent in the state for initiating projects Air Marshall SP Dharkar, PVSM, AVSM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command outlined the need to harness the strength of 25 crore youth population of the country to take India to greater heights of progress.
Commenting that Armed Forces recognizes no division and it has one culture of uniform, SP Dharkar also asserted that Armed Forces do not recognize any other culture than being an Indian and the feel of nationalism.
Smti Sherry Lalthangzo, Economic Adviser, NEC pointed out that Northeast, as a region, has made a lot of progress in last 9 years in different sectors be it infrastructure, skill development etc.
Admitting that there were gaps in funding in many areas earlier, she added that a lot of infrastructural gaps are now being addressed with Act East Policy .
Commissioner and Secretary to the Governor, BDR Tiwari said that the concept of good governance cannot be achieved until services are delivered to the last man standing.
Maintaining that delivery of service is the key to good governance, he said that the Central Government and Meghalaya Government have taken good initiatives to develop the country.
Earlier, Additional Director General, PIB Smt Jane Namchu welcomed the participants and urged them to spread the word about the about the development brought about in the country in last 9 years.
During the session, presentations were also made on NESAC by Director, SP Agarwal, Backward Blocks and NERCOMP and Indigenous Habitat.
