SHILLONG, June 28: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma has taken up various issues regarding the state’s development with the Centre during his recent meetings with different union ministers in New Delhi.
Addressing media persons on Friday in Shillong, Conrad Sangma informed that he had apprised the DONER minister about the different projects that are pending with the ministry and requested the need to review the guidelines.
“I am very happy to inform that the minister has given assurance that all the pending lying with the ministry will be cleared at the earliest,” he said adding, “At the same time I had requested to him that the guidelines that are there in the ministry are very complicated and hence, they need to be streamlined. A normal project sometimes takes a year and a half even to reach an approval stage and hence, easing of the guidelines would help in the overall process of the projects being approved and implemented. The minister has assured me that he is already examining the guidelines and they will be reviewed very soon.”
The chief minister also informed that he had met the Union civil aviation minister and requested the ministry to allow two shifts in the Umroi Airport.
“This will allow flights to take off early and a few evening and late night flights will also be able to land. Since the facilities are there in Umroi airport for night landing, which will allow more planes and more flights to be connected. The timing of flight should be more flexible and the minister has assured he will look into this matter. This will lead to much more flexibility in the operations of different airlines that are currently operating,” he said.
Sangma then said that the Union minister had also assured to expedite the state government’s proposal for starting heliports for Shillong and Tura.
“The setting up of heliports is also at a very advanced stage of approval and sanction and this will ensure that a proper infrastructure is available for landing and the parking of the different helicopter services that are running. We also hope to expand the helicopter services in the future,” he said.
“I also apprised him about the expansion of the runway at Baljek Airport and also the possibility of starting flights between Shillong and Tura and the minister has again shown full support in both of these aspects,” Sangma added.
Further, the chief minister informed that in his meeting with the Union minister of state for rural development, he had requested him and the ministry to streamline the processes of payments in the different projects that are there.
“The government of Meghalaya has been performing very well in terms of utilization of funds in terms of the rural development ministry. For example, last year itself, almost 1,50,000 PMAY houses were constructed which is amounting to 1,500 crores plus of funds that were given by centres,” he said.
“The state has performed well in bigger projects like the MNGREA project and the schemes under it. Funds are being utilized, but lots of funds and pending bills are stuck with the ministry especially when it comes to the material components, and hence we have requested the minister to could look into that aspects as it affects the overall payment aspects as well as the implementation of future projects in the state,” he added.
He also said that he has also discussed with the minister for skill and entrepreneurship about the different programmes that are being run in the state.
“We wish to collaborate with the different programmess of the central government’s ministry in terms of skill development and how we could converge and work together,” he said. (NNN)
