Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 274/22

CHIEF MINISTER INAUGURATES P.A. SANGMA FELLOWSHIP FOR LEGAL AND POLICY RESEARCH

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, today inaugurated the P.A. Sangma Fellowship for Legal and Policy Research at Yojana Bhawan which was also attended by Minister, Law etc James K Sangma, Chief Secretary, R V Suchiang, Secretary, Law, C.V.D. Diengdoh and Prof Sony Pellissery from National Law School of India University.

Speaking during the inaugural session, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said that the concept of having the fellowship and research based policymaking was something that has been missing for a very long time. Though we have bureaucrats and legislators we are not experts in a number of minor details that are very important for proper law making and the larger goal is to ensure that the people are put first by this unique collaboration from the Judiciary and the Legislative side for the larger interest of the people, he said. The Chief Minister also said that if there is a research based policymaking there will be a better framework to ensure that the system as a whole works and to do that there is a need to build a capacity for everyone. This programme is part of the larger goal in order to make sure that the system as a whole improves and the capacity of every individual improves, he added.

The Chief Minister also said that Late P A Sangma was a person with a very tall personality with diverse background in Law, Journalism, Teaching and Politics. He was a person who had an understanding of Law and had experience both in the Judiciary as a person who had been practicing Law himself and had experience in policymaking as a Legislator after he entered Politics so it is only befitting that this fellowship programme is named after him, he added.

Law Minister James K Sangma said that the launch is also the realization of the vision of seeing the boosting of the governance and the student engagements as well as capacity building exercises of the officers of the State. Although the State of Meghalaya is small there are socio economic challenges, challenges in streamlining public services, challenges on ensuring representation and participation and most importantly the challenge of catering governance to the people in a just, timely and impartial manner, he said. He also said that it is only when the situation is demanding and one steps up to accomplish tasks to handle and achieve the goals and added that the fellowship that has been instituted is a step to that effect as the fellows will see the same challenges and work on the solutions towards the same.

The Minister further added that governance is a slow process from research and consultations to implementation and monitoring while public expectations are highly dynamic and varied and keeping up with this needs capacity building from time to time to also keep up with evolving and changing times and environments.

The inauguration was also attended by officers from the Law Department, law students and the research fellows.

Press Release No. 275/22

CM LAUNCHES MGNREGS IN CENSUS TOWNS OF MEGHALAYA

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, today launched the MGNREGS in Census towns of Meghalaya at a function that was held at State Convention Centre in the presence of Minister, C and RD Hamletson Dohling and Principal Secretary, C and RD, Sampat Kumar.

Speaking during the launch, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma expressing his gratitude to the Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development for clarifying the status of census towns said that it was a simple issue but one which was not resolved for a very long time. It was because of the ambiguity in the actual classification of census towns, the census towns could not derive benefits from neither the urban schemes nor the rural schemes and had missed out a lot of developmental programmes, he said. He added that the Government of India has clarified that MGNREGS is applicable in rural areas and since the census towns have not been notified as urban areas nor cantonment areas MGNREGS can operate in census towns. It is with a great sense of satisfaction today that I stand here to announce that the census towns can now derive the benefits of MGNREGS, he said.

The Chief Minister also said that Meghalaya has been performing exceptionally well in MGNREGS and the benefits of this programme should reach more people. We are also one of the first states to have women reservation of 15 per cent in the committees of the MGNREGS and today we have close to 2500 women secretaries in different VECs and that reflects the equality and gender participation on important decisions that are made at the grassroots level, he added. The Chief Minister further thanked the community for participating actively in different developmental programmes of the government.

The programme was also attended by Pyniaid Singh Syiem, MLA, Mawrengkneng, Balajied Kupar Synrem, MLA, Shella, P T Sawkmie, MLA, Mawlai, Gavin Miguel Mylliem, MLA, Sohra, Titosstarwell Chyne, CEM, KHADC and Teibor Pathaw, MDC, Mawlai besides community representatives and leaders.

Press Release No. 276/22

MOS RAMESWAR TELI DISTRIBUTES FREE UJJWALA 2.0 LPG CONNECTIONS, TO BENEFICIARIES OF MEGHALAYA

Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Labour and Employment, Shri Rameswar Teli today distributed free Ujjwala 2.0 LPG Connections, E Shram and PM SYM cards, PPO and cheques of EDLI schemes EPFO and ESIC cards under PRAYAS to the beneficiaries of Meghalaya at a programme held at the Shillong Club. A total of ten beneficiaries from the East Khasi Hills district received free LPG connections. The Minister informed that 62 per cent target of the Ujjwala scheme has been achieved in the state of Meghalaya and requested the state government to put all efforts so that 100 per cent target could be achieved soon. Eleven beneficiaries were provided with Pension Payment Order as part of the PRAYAS initiative for Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav 2022. Under Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 , a beneficiary received a cheque of Rs 7 lakh for five members of Rs 1.4 lakh each. Ten beneficiaries were given E-Shram cards while PM-SYM benefits were distributed among five beneficiaries.

The Minister while referring to the Ujjawal Yojana said the number of people, especially women whose lives are illuminated by the Ujjwala Yojana is unprecedented. A few years ago the rural and poor households were compelled to use traditional cooking fuel such as firewood, stoves run on kerosene, coal, cow-dung cakes etc, said the Minister citing the detrimental impact on the health of rural women and children as well as on the environment. Under the leadership of Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, was successful in introducing the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana as a flagship scheme with an objective to provide clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to deprived households. So far, more than 9 crore women have been provided with free LPG connection, the Minister added.

Seva, Sushasan and Garib Kalyan have been the major focus of Government under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi over past 8 years and India has witnessed a paradigm shift towards people centric governance. Landmark policies and initiatives have been implemented across sectors to improve last mile delivery of benefits and enhance development outcomes across the country, said the Minister. He added that the policies have focused on improving infrastructure, ramping up healthcare facilities, ensuring farmers welfare and protecting the marginalized. Further, India has witnessed unprecedented strides in youth-led and technology-led development. It has also seen various reforms aimed at enhancing ease of doing business in the country. Additionally, women centric policies have played a major role in promoting participation of women in different sectors, stated the Minister.

He highlighted the Centre focus on exploration and production of oil and natural gas that is aimed at making India a self reliant country in energy requirement, and said that the work on meeting the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol is on track. The 10 per cent blending under Ethanol Blended Petrol programme has been achieved much ahead of the targeted timelines of November, 2022, the Minister informed. He said, Augmenting ethanol blending in fuel is critical for the energy security of the country and it will help in reducing import of fuels. This will not only help in cutting the hefty oil import bill but will also encourage farmers to come forward to contribute in the supply of ethanol, thereby help in increasing their incomes. The Minister also said that exploration for oil and natural gas will soon start in Meghalaya besides other states of the North East. Shri Teli informed the gathering that gas pipelines would be laid across all the Northeastern states. He said the project to lay the gas pipeline would be executed by Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd and work will start very soon. Under this project, Meghalaya too is included and this pipeline will extend till Shillong, the work for which will begin very soon.

The Minister also discussed the initiatives of the Labour and Employment Ministry to bring in transparency and accountability through reforms and enforcement of Labour Laws. Apart from providing the necessary skills and information for setting up of a new startup, regular financial assistance has been provided to establishments and workers to help them in endeavours. EPFO has been providing their services online for the benefit of the subscribers and there has been quick settlement of claims in the recent years. The Prayaas scheme is an endeavour of the EPFO to release the employees pension amount, i.e. Provident Fund amount, on the day of his or her superannuation. Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana is being implemented by the government through EPFO to incentivize employers of organized sector and for creation of new employment and till date around 60 lakh beneficiaries have been benefitted amounting almost Rs 5500 crore, he stated while addressing the program today.

Services under the Employees State Insurance Scheme of India have been modernized and will be extended to every part of India, he said. ESIC will also augment its infrastructure by setting up new hospitals and upgrading existing ones. The Minister also gave an insight on the status of E-Shram. For the first time in the country, the government through e Shram portal, has been preparing a National Database of workers under the unorganized sector. The portal will maintain a database of workers in the country’s unorganised sector. E Shram Portal National Database on unorganised workers is being created to facilitate better implementation of various social security schemes for nearly 38 crore workers. Till date 28 crore workers have registered themselves in this portal. In Meghalaya two lakh workers have registered themselves under the E Shram portal out of the target of nine lakh, he informed and exhorted everyone to encourage the workers of the unorganized sector to enroll themselves in the portal to get the benefits of the government schemes.

The Minister also mentioned Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan that is being introduced for old age protection and social security of unorganised workers. Under the scheme unorganized worker aged between 18 years to 40 years can get enrolled and receive an amount of Rs 3000 after attaining the age of 60 years. The Minister requested everyone to popularize the scheme and mobilize the target groups and eligible workers for enrolment under the scheme. He said the central government has also taken several initiatives to increase the enrolment under PM-SYM Scheme. Later in the day, Shri Rameswar Teli also took a review meeting of officials of the various departments of the state government where he took stock of the implementation of various centrally sponsored schemes.