SHILLONG, JULY 1: Ri Bhoi, district, which has a large number of villages along the inter-state border with Assam, is the only district in Meghalaya which has been deprived of the centrally sponsored Border Areas Development Scheme (BADS).
Hynniewtrep People’s Federation (HPF) of Ri Bhoi unit informed newsmen during a news conference on Wednesday.
“The state government has failed to implement various schemes under the BADS in the district, while other districts are enjoying the benefits of the scheme,” HPF president Vicky Syngkli complaint to newsmen.
Syngkli said that BADS is a programme introduced by the central government since 1987-88 to bring a balance development to all border areas, Meghalaya, however, started to implement this scheme only in 2012.
“Under the BADS, the centre aims at extending schemes for power connectivity, roads, water supply, PDS, agriculture, education to all border areas,” he said.
HPF general secretary Clever Jana on the other hand informed till now, over 2000 students from the border villages have been deprived of the special scholarship scheme.
He said, “We have received several complaints from the students of the region that they are not getting this scholarship which is 100 per cent funded by the centre.”
“Apart from this, various other development schemes have also failed to reach the border villages,” Jana said while pointing out that the failure of the state government to implement this scheme has encouraged the Assam government to illegally encroach into the territory of the state in the name of development.
Therefore, he said that the HPF demands the state government to immediately ensure that all the schemes under this programme be implemented in the district like in other districts of the state.
The HPF also demanded the government to set up a Border Area Development (BAD) office in the district to ensure that these schemes are properly implemented for the development of the border areas.- By Our Reporter
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