SHILLONG, MARCH 15: The United Democratic Party (UDP) has asked the state government to upgrade the oldest sub-divisions in the state – Sohra and Mairang – into full-fledged districts in order to bring administration closer to the people.
Participating in the debate on the governor’s address in the Assembly on Friday, leader of the opposition, Donkupar Roy, said the two sub-divisions have long been neglected and they deserve to be converted into districts, which was a pledge given to the people of Mairang by chief minister Mukul Sangma himself. “I do not see any problem (in creating the two districts) with the chief minister himself holding the important departments of planning and finance,” he said.
The UDP president said during his tenure as chairman of the State Planning Board, he had conducted surveys and found that the sub-divisions deserved to be converted into districts. “According to my findings, the areas along the borders, Mawsynrut, Pynursla and Laskein, needs to be upgraded into sub-divisions and Sohra and Mairang into districts,” he said.
The UDP also demanded cent per cent increase in the allocation of fund meant for the development of rural areas. “The Special Rural Works Programme (SRWP) scheme should be increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore,” said Roy.
Expressing regret that the MLA local area development scheme and other programmes failed to find a mention in the governor’s address, Roy argued that the raised was needed to enable MLAs carryout development work at the grass-roots level. “If (the fund under) MP scheme, which is not directly related to development, is being raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, why not in the case of the MLAs,” he asked. (By Our Reporters)
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