Shillong, May 13: The Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar interacted with the Self Help Groups (SHGs) of Meghalaya, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma was also present.
Addressing the members from Khasi-Jaintia and Garo Hills, the Vice President said,“To empower the pocket of a person by freebies, by doles, is not true empowerment. True empowerment is that you hand-hold the person so that the person gets himself or herself empowered. That brings joy, that brings satisfaction, that gives you inner strength, and also makes you pride of your families.”
Dhankhar said, “North East part of our country is our jewel. In 90s, that is about three decades ago, the Government of India had a policy and that policy was ‘Look East’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an additional dimension to this policy – ‘Look East’ to ‘Act East’. And that action has taken place very effectively. Meghalaya, let me tell you, is heaven for tourists. Bountiful gift of nature.”
Highlighting the progress made under the ‘Look East, Act East’ policy, the Vice-President emphasized that Meghalaya holds immense potential in tourism, mining, IT services. He lauded the state’s achievements in economic growth and women’s empowerment, crediting visionary leadership at both the Centre and the state level.
“Economy of a state is determined by gross state domestic product, GSDP. And for that the state of Meghalaya has seen a rise of 13%. 13% rise year to year is very greatly commendable. Congratulations to the Chief Minister for his deep commitment to improve the economy of the state. And right now, it is projected to be more than 66,000 crores. Meghalaya is a large state when it comes to heart, but otherwise geographically not that large. But the size of your economy is good. You’ve set a great target. And your target is the state is aiming for $10 billion economy by 2028”, he said.
