Shillong, Nov 9: The cabinet on Wednesday constituted the Meghalaya State Education Commission (MSEC) for concrete solutions and strategic recommendations for ushering reforms in the education system.
The four-member MSEC will have to examine the presence of too many categories of schools in Meghalaya.
The MSEC will comprise a chairperson, two advisers and one secretary.
Help to physically challenged
The state government has decided to increase the guarantee amount to Rs 4 crore to ensure more physically challenged can take necessary loans for different livelihood programmes.
Conrad said, “…the government will now guarantee Rs 4 crore in favour of the National Handicap Finance Development Corporation.”
He said this is a fund that gives loans to the different physically challenged individuals and this requires the government to guarantee the loans.
“Earlier, the limit was at Rs 1 crore. However, in the interest of ensuring that our citizens who are physically challenged will be able to also get the help of this loan and hence we have decided to increase the guarantee amount to Rs 4 crore, so that more of our citizens who are physically challenged can get the benefit and take the necessary loans for the different programmes for livelihood that they may want to do,” he said.
Literary awards
The state government has decided to come up with a State Literary Award for authors as part of its endeavour to promote Khasi and Garo languages.
Conrad said apart from the resolution that the government passed in order to move the government of India to include Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule and apart from other supports the government is giving to ensure that the languages are promoted, this is one more step towards promoting the languages.
He said the annual state literary awards for authors for local language will include one award in Khasi and one in Garo and “we’re starting with a cash reward of Rs.1 lakh each”.
The state Cabinet on Wednesday approved the notification of the Meghalaya Epidemic Diseases Malaria Regulation 2022.
Elimination of malaria
Conrad told reporters that as per the National Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016 – 2030 programme, the government of India has mandated that the state should try to eradicate malaria.
Stating that Meghalaya has been a state which has been suffering in the past due to the disease, Conrad, however said, “but we have made very positive steps towards controlling the spread of malaria because of numbers of steps but in order to ensure that a very strong framework is created to control the spread of malaria, the national framework for malaria elimination is mandated.
