Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 425/15

CM FLAGS OFF RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICE IN WEST GARO HILLS

Tura, June 20, 2015: Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma flagged off 20 numbers of Tata Winger vehicles under Meghalaya Rural Public Transport Service (MRPTS) scheme for the people of West Garo Hills, here at SMELC Building premises, Dakopgre on Saturday morning.

The scheme is a part of the State Government’s initiative to provide easy access and connectivity to the people in the rural areas.

Officials of the District Administration and the Transport department, local leaders including senior citizens, Church leaders and the partners who are managing the service, were among others present during the flagging off ceremony.

Addressing the gathering briefly before flagging off the vehicles, the Chief Minister said that the rural public transport service was launched by government to provide safe and convenient mode of transport to the people of Meghalaya, particularly those in the rural areas. “There is not enough connectivity for the people in the rural areas who have to travel frequently to the district or sub-divisional or block headquarters or those who have to go to market places for various economic activities. Therefore in order to bridge this gap between availability of transport and demand, we have launched this service”, he said. Dr. Sangma also informed that this programme has been launched with the objective of inculcating the spirit of entrepreneurship through the partners. “Earlier we have seen that ideally such public transport services used to be run by the transport corporations. But time has come now when government should not do any business. Business should be run by our partners drawn from the community, from the general public,” he added.

The Chief Minister also felt that the inherent desire to become entrepreneurs particularly among the tribal people is missing and therefore there is a need to motivate our people to be self employed and become successful entrepreneurs. He urged upon the concerned authorities that once the routes for the service have been identified they should float tenders in a transparent manner and inspire potential partners particularly self-help groups or cooperative societies “so that they become our partners, run this service on a business model and show a success story as an entrepreneur”.

He expressed hope that the partners will run the service effectively and set an example for others to start similar services for generating income. He also hoped that with the launch of this service the commuters would be saved from the difficulties of travelling in overloaded vehicles.

Earlier the Assistant Commissioner of Transport, P.M.Sangma gave a few details on the operation and management of MRPTS, while programme was chaired by the Additonal Deputy Commissioner, Tura, D. D. Shira.