State

Mismanagement led to Rs 1,849-cr deficit in Meghalaya: Shah

BJP promises education in Garo but no clear mandate on other vernacular languages

Tura (Meghalaya), Feb 16 (MM Bureau & UNI): Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Thursday said due to the negligence of the state government of Meghalaya and their mismanagement, the deficit of the state has increased.

Addressing a public meeting here, Shah said the state’s deficit is about Rs 1,849 crore in 2022-23 owing to such corruption that “is not visible anywhere else in the country”.

Advertisement

“Meghalaya Energy Corporation is on the verge of closure, According to an RBI report, Meghalaya is the slowest developing state in the country,” he added.

Among the promises made by the Union minister during the election campaign was starting education in Garo language. However, there was no clear mention of a long-term education system in other vernacular languages, such as Khasi, Pnar, Bengali and Nepali.

Shah exuded confidence that BJP will emerge as the single largest party in the Meghalaya assembly elections scheduled to be held on February 27.

He appealed to the electorate to strengthen his party and the ‘hands’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the coming assembly elections for ensuring a corruption-free and developed state.

“We need a strong BJP here, so we broke the alliance before the polls and decided to contest for all 60 assembly seats. Meghalaya is one of the most corrupt states in the country due to the inefficiency of the state government,” he said.

Pointing out that there was no medical college in Meghalaya even after 50 years of statehood, Shah promised to set up medical colleges in the Garo Hills and in Shillong, if the BJP was voted to power, adding that nursing schools would also be set up.

Speaking in chaste Hindi, Shah apologised to the tribal people for not being able to speak in Garo, even as he promised that students would be able to study in their own language from primary to secondary level, as per the National Education Policy, which promotes local languages.

He said the BJP wants to make Meghalaya the “number one state in the northeast” and set up IT parks and economic zones in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region, besides promoting organic farming.

“In eight years, the Modi government spent Rs 5,000 crore for national highways and rural roads in Meghalaya. There is five times more fibre connectivity in the state since 2014 and 39 Eklavya model residential schools have been set up for poor students,” he said, adding that Modi was the only PM after independence who visited the Northeast for 51 times so far.

“We will make a provision of Rs 100 crore for MSMEs when our government is formed in Meghalaya. For the development of North-East, Prime Minister has started the PM-DevINE scheme. For this, a primary allocation of Rs 6,000 crore has been made in the budget,” Shah said.

Stating that insurgency has come down drastically in the region, the Union minister appealed to groups in Meghalaya to come forward for talks with the Centre and “get connected with the Modi government’s development work.

Related Articles

Back to top button
Close

Adblock Detected

Kindly Disable Ad Blocker