Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 224/15

MUKUL FLAGS OFF 9 VEHICLES UNDER MRPTS FOR SOUTH WEST GARO HILLS

Ampati, April 25, 2015: As part of the State Government’s initiative to provide easy access and connect to the people in the rural areas, Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma flagged off nine vehicles under Meghalaya Rural Public Transport Service (MRPTS) scheme for the people of South West Garo Hills, in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner & President, District Level Committee, MRPTS, Ampati, Ram Singh, Superintendent of Police, Aditya Goenka, District Transport Officer, S. K Marak, the service providers and the public at Ampati on Saturday afternoon.

Dedicating the vehicles to the people of the region, Dr. Sangma said that the service is being given by the State government to the people of Meghalaya, particularly in the rural areas who have to frequently come to the district and sub-divisional headquarters to get their works done to provide them convenient and safe mode of transport. Secondly, this is being done to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship through the partners who can be an example of successful model for business for others to emulate and start similar services for generating income. “We wanted people who are really committed and therefore selection was done from amongst the applicants on a transparent system, so that they will be able to fulfill the objectives of the government for creating entrepreneurship opportunities as well as providing the people with easy and convenient transport service”, he added.

He also urged upon the service providers to manage these vehicles professionally not only to create sustainable livelihood opportunity for themselves but also to provide reliable service to the people. “It is therefore imperative upon the district authorities to give the drivers and others associated with the service some amount of counseling from time to time, because the purpose is to serve the people” he said. In this connection he gave some safety tips for the drivers as well as commuters which include, avoiding drinking and driving, overloading the vehicles, etc, and also asked them to list the routes according to traffic intensity to identify which routes would require more vehicles.

The Chief Minister also urged upon the district authorities to have a social action team and encourage two-three volunteers to stand guard in each check point, who will be provided with breath analyzers. He also suggested that remuneration for these volunteers and required expenditures can be met from Voluntary Action Fund (VAF), adding that he has allocated more funds to those districts that have made full and correct use of the VAF.

Later, the keys of the Tata Wingers under MRPTS were handed over to six service providers or partners, mostly self-help groups and other local societies of the district, by the Chief Minister before flagging off the vehicles.