Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 130/13

LOOK OUT NOTICE

Shillong, March 5, 2013: The Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills, has informed that Dilip Baspor, 20-21 years of age, son of (L) Hari Kishor Baspor of Happy Valley, Block D, Shillong is wanted in connection with Madanriting PS Case No. 19(2)2013 U/S 3(a)/4 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

Any person having knowledge or whereabouts of the accused may inform Shillong Police Control Room at 0364-2222277 or O/C Madanrting PS at 9436110967. The identity of the informant will be kept confidential.

Press Release No. 131/13

SPEECH OF DR MUKUL SANGMA, CHIEF MINISTER, MEGHALAYA AFTER THE SWEARING-IN-CEREMONY ON MARCH 5TH, 20

It is my privilege, in the first instance, to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to the wonderful people of my state for coming out in such large numbers on the day of voting and engaging themselves in the process of strengthening our democracy and nation building and for giving a resounding and decisive mandate for taking the responsibility of governance for the coming five years. On behalf of the Hon’ble Congress President, Smt Sonia Gandhiji, the Congress Vice-President Shri Rahul Gandhiji and entire Congress Party and my Government, I once again thank and congratulate the people for this mandate. We have made a humble beginning in the last preceding years of our governance with new developmental initiatives addressing core issues confronting the State. We also have been able to impact the lives of people through our new developmental initiatives and there is visibility of developmental initiatives on the ground. Our humble but sustained and committed efforts generate hope amongst the people across the State which has been substantiated by this mandate. As this mandate comes with huge expectations, I on behalf of my colleagues, make this solemn pledge that it will be our sincere and committed endeavour with utmost sense of dedication to implement all those that we have promised in our manifesto.

It will be our sincere endeavour to live up to the expectations of all sections of the people across the state. Our focus will be to ensure sustained and inclusive growth by addressing the issues of backwardness and poverty by implementing people-centric schemes and partnership building, entrepreneurship development, upscaling our investment in social sectors and by leveraging upon our vast human and natural resources. Unemployment of the youth is a major challenge before us. We still see parents struggling to support their children in providing quality education and parents who can afford sending their children to private schools instead of to Government Schools. We still have schools run by untrained teachers. I have seen a mother running from pillar to post in search of a job for her son. I have seen young educated girl waiting for hours together in the waiting room of my office to find out what she should do to get a job. I have heard young boys become victims of unscrupulous people duping them in promise of a job. We have lost years but failed to create opportunities for our talented young men and women. We need to therefore upscale the skill and knowledge of our youth and make them capable to compete.

The UPA Government at the Centre, under the able and caring leadership of Smt. Sonia Gandhiji, the UPA Chairperson, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister and the young and dynamic Congress Vice-President, Shri. Rahul Gandhiji, have been strong pillars of support. The State will pass on maximum benefit of the 16th. Flagship Programme of the UPA for the benefit of the common man. We will ensure expeditious and efficient delivery of these schemes to the poor and to the needy. We shall upscale our investment and benefit from additional asset creation through convergence of these schemes with our own State’s Flagship Programmes. We will give additional support to such convergence initiatives so that the people can benefit from effect multiplier on asset creation. Fulfilling all these agenda will require the Government to be responsive and effective. We have promised to embark upon new initiatives to accelerate development in all spheres with a special focus on the poor and the under-privileged, old and needy, women and children, small and marginal farmers and the BPL workers.

We have made a solemn pledge to bring a change and to be ready to participate in bringing this change – a change for a better life for every Meghalayan. Today, as we open a new chapter in the developmental landscape of our state, we seek your partnership once again to achieve the shared objective. It will be our endeavour to ensure that our talented young men and women find new and sustained opportunities in diverse fields. Ours will be a special focus on Education, Health, Culture, Sports and Tourism which will open up unlimited opportunities for each and every section of our society here in Meghalaya. Our commitment to livelihood security will be achievable by upscale investment in the rural sector to make farming more remunerative and attractive option through technological intervention and knowledge transfer. Growth and Change are imperative today in a globalised world and economy. The high growth rates of India and China have been the envy of the rest of the developed world which is suffering from a shrinking economy. Economic growth is the key for creation of mass-scale opportunities which can be harnessed by our people. It is, therefore, incumbent on us to integrate and harness synergy with the rest of the economies and maximize our growth potential. In this march ahead, we must never forget the women. Women in Meghalaya hold up more than half the sky but we have continued to deny them a fair deal. It is time to change this decisively. The financial inclusion scheme for women launched by us earlier was only a start. It will be one of my top priorities in this term to ensure an environment for women which is safe and supportive for them to actualize their dreams and their aspirations. Also, the old and the infirm, the widows and the differently-abled, all will find a special space in our road to advancement.

Such an environment is not possible without peace and harmony. Peace is not simply about law and order or the absence of crime. This must be understood in its broadest context. Tackling militancy required building trust between communities and groups, a responsive and accountable government to mention only a few. It is, therefore, about a holistic approach to a more humane society. Such a society must necessarily offer a better quality of life. While our interventions in the social sectors and the larger societal setting will matter, we will also need to ensure that our physical infrastructure keep pace with our ambitions and our changing life style. We will, therefore, focus on completion of the large number of roads, rail, waterways, power, tourism and other infrastructure projects on which work has already begun. New projects are already being planned and these are urgently needed while it is important to rapidly finish what we began. Improvements in infrastructure will help us attract more investments and industry but we will be cautious that we promote industralisation with a minimal environmental footprint as per the genius of the State with maximum benefits accruing to our people.

While democracy is the bedrock of our polity, it is also a fact that elected Governments constantly struggle with a trust deficit in the eyes of the people. Corruption is another burning issue which agitates the mind. We are keen to change this. To this end, our manifesto has promised a Public Service Delivery Act. We will combine this with a new law for social audits. As I see it, such social audit should be concurrent and not something which functions only as a post mortem. While greater transparency is one safeguard against corruption, I can assure you that we will not be found wanting in taking punitive action against offenders at all levels. The vexed border issue with Assam will be our priority so that long-pending problems are solved amicably. With Bangladesh , with the help of the Government of India, we will find a solution to our pending issues, thereby greatly encouraging border trade and commerce. This will benefit people living in the border areas of our state. Together with this, influx into the State will be combated with a more effective system of policing, the Central authorities guarding our borders will be strengthened. A comprehensive and institutionalized mechanism, with the involvement of all stakeholders shall be put in place to address this issue.

You, the people of Meghalaya have voted the Indian National Congress under the stewardship of our beloved leader, Madam Sonia Gandhi, for Stability, for Continuity, for Progress and for the Congress. We resolve not to let you down. We will all work together towards a bigger and brighter Meghalaya. We must rid Meghalaya of all the ills afflicting our body polity, especially poverty, so that we lift our State to a higher pedestal at par with the bigger and better States of the Union and a force to be reckoned with in the comity of States. As every mother struggles to prepare her child to be able to compete in the world with others and to find a place, so also we commit ourselves to prepare the youth of Meghalaya to compete and come out successful in the world. It is our earnest appeal to our brothers in different political parties of Meghalaya as well as to the various NGOs to shake off their prejudices and their animosity and work together with us to transmute our land into a shining example not only to the other North-Eastern states and to India but to the world as well. I, along with my colleagues in the Government seek your partnership in carrying forward this vision.