The Meghalaya Government will initiate funds from MGNREGA(Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) to implement scheme for construction of fish ponds in the State. This initiative will be developed by both the State Government through the Meghalaya Basin Development programme and the Central Scheme through the MGNREGA. The funds for the construction of the fish ponds will come from the Fisheries Department of the Central Government.
This will also help people with job card to get jobs for 100 days as instructed through the MGNREGA.
The All Meghalaya SSA School Teachers Association (AMSSASTA) central body has taken a decision to suspend the proposed sit-in-demonstration which was to be held in the capital city on August 21, concerning the non release of the teacher’s salary for the past four months. Addressing media, Lasfurious Marngar who is the AMSSASTA President said, “We had earlier held a general executive committee meeting to discuss on the silence of the State Government over our salary which is left pending to be released for the month of April till July and we had set an ultimatum to the government to release the salary before August 20.”
According to him, UP school teacher’s salary from Rs. 20, 493 has been reduced to Rs, 20, 000 and for LP teachers their salary has been reduced from Rs. 19,943 to Rs. 15, 000. He, however said, “In our discussion with the Chief Minister on August 16, he informed that the State Government will bear the additional expenditure so that the salary of the teachers will remain the same.”
He said that the Chief Minister had also urged them (teachers) to remain patient till the end of this month for the release of their salary. “The Chief Minister had told us that he will try his level best to release the teacher’s salary hence we have decided to suspend the sit-in-demonstration which was scheduled for August 21,” he said.
He informed that this decision was taken by all the members of the association from different district of the state.
The Defence Authorities clarified that the reason for blocking the bridge on the Umkhen Riveron the outskirts of Shillong is for the safety of the local who are using the damage bridge. It is learnt that the residents of Jyntah Village accused the Indian Army’s Assam Regiment of harassment after the Defence Authorities blocked two bridges with barb wires forcing locals to walk across the River Umkhen.
PRO Defence Meghalaya stated that “The 150 year old bridge at Umkhen River is damaged and the support structure is broken causing Army to block it for safety of civilians. It was after the visit of Pyniaid Sing Syiem who is the Member of District Council (MDC) of Mawryngkneng, a Magistrate Mardondor Tongper and members of the Khasi Student’s Union (KSU) met the Army Authorities and the bridge was allowed for civilians to re-use.
Every time the Judiciary has asked the Umroi Air Port Authorities to complete works within a certain time frame work, the dead line is always extended on some plea or another. This time the State High Court in Shillong, seems to be firm in its instruction, that the air port authorities should complete all works by September 30, and that the air port be fully functional. Though Umroi is already linked with a daily flight to the nearest metropolis Calcutta, yet making Shillong the hub of flights within the North East have not been taken in right earnest. The Court had pointed out that, there was breach of the time limit. That was fixed a number of times. It warned that any further delay will be totally at the peril of the authorities. Airport authorities had assured that operational landing and take-off facilities to metro cities in the country are being finalized within the stipulated time frame.
The State Government has announced for providing free medicines in all the Government Hospitals and Health Centres across the state. In the face of this announcement, the state has faced many medicinal anomalies when most of the medicines including life saving drugs were not available, as they are generally out of stock. Patients have to go out and search in the pharmacies to buy medicines from outside. Therefore the new drug policy of free medicines within the hospitals and health centres can be only wishful thinking, if implementation of such a policy is not taken seriously.
It is a high stake for Conrad K. Sangma to win the South Tura Assembly election, in order that he retains the reins of power in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance Government and also the state as a whole. The Chief Minister had taken the wheel of administration, since the MDA had come into power with the alliance of regional parties such as the United Democratic Party (UDP). No doubt the UDP had pledge that it would give full support that Conrad K. Sangma gets formally elected as member of the state legislative assembly. Conrad, on the other hand, has expressed his desire and commitment to work, through at the same time confessing, that the government though short of big brains, yet it has a big heart in going all out to see that people benefit from sincere work, through the various schemes and projects, which should bear fruits of utility.
The Khasi lineage bill of the District Council is seen to be not running smooth, as it is jumping from one point to another, also stepping into uncertain territory and jumping into a conclusion, that the District Council itself, had recalled the bill, because of the many loopholes and contradictions. In the first place the bill was sent to the Governor for approval, without consulting legal experts especially of the lapses and contradictions, which goes against the spirit of the bill itself and its attempts to override, well established traditional laws and usages. These lapses had therefore prompted the District Council to hurriedly recall the bill from the Governor.
This is the first time in Independent India, the speech of a Chief Minister is censored, in which a number of restrictions have been imposed. It so happens the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K. Sangma is still not a member of the State Legislative Assembly, and therefore he is debarred and not entitled to speak upon any subject matter, that pertain to the development activities of the state government. The Election Commission had issued a specific instructions, that the Chief Minister should be guided by the model code of conduct and that his speech does not contain, any achievement of the government, nor announce any scheme or development project that the state contemplate to take up. This would be the first time the freedom of speech has been denied to a Chief minister in delivering the independence message to the people, being tongue-tied by law.
