Chief Minister Conrad Sangma launches projects worth Rs 400 crores 

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 15, 2024

The government on Thursday launched projects worth almost 400 crores with an aim to empower the farming community as well as a program meant to protect forests.

Speaking at the Meghalaya Next Event held at the Convocation Hall, NEHU, the CM said, “Friends in a nutshell today the government of Meghalaya is launching projects, worth almost 400 crores in a single day. For me, and for my government, we are focused on empowering our people and empowering our communities.”

He further informed that the government has also inaugurated 15 processing units and each one of them has been made an investment of Rs one crore that means Rs 15 crores has been spent and there will be close to about 200 Plus units that will be inaugurated through the course of this year. 

Informing that the government is coming up with a another very unique program called the Green Meghalaya program for which cheques will be distributed for that, he said, “We are trying to preempt people from damaging the forest and I’m happy to tell you that we have been able to cover 50,000 hectares in a matter of two years, and we are targeting one and a half lakh hectares now. Today, a record Rs 12 crores will be distributed to different communities to empower you to protect your own forest and protect your own land.”

He went on to allay all fears of the people that the land will be taken away from them, he assured that the land belongs to them while the government is working to protect the forest.

Speaking about the FOCUS program, the CM said, “I’m happy to inform you that in the last two years, we have distributed over 100 crores to over two lakh families in different parts of our state as the first tranche in the first part of our program, we aspire to touch 4,50,000 farmers, which is a massive exercise, but the process is on. But as we move forward, and as was what was promised by me in different forums, we are today again releasing now for this five year term.”

He added, “Today, we’ll be releasing a tranche of Rs 3.5 crores to almost close to 517 groups. Every farmer will get 5000 every year and you multiply that by 5000 to five years, which means Rs 25,000. And I urge all the groups that you should utilize this in the right manner in a productive manner, so that you become eligible for the next installment also.”

The government in partnership with KFW is launching the MegARISE, he said, “It is a holistic approach of trying to manage our resource, upgrade and a very, very important resource for life, which is water. MegARISE is a critical project, keeping in mind the catchment areas that are meant for Shillong and Tura are being affected due to different activities and keeping the increase in the population of the urban areas. I’m sure that MegARISE will lead to a huge improvement in the overall water scenario in the state.”

Informing that KFW is the German funding agency and is the implementing agency for MegARISE, Commissioner and Secretary, government of Meghalaya, Dr Vijay Kumar said that the MegARISE project is meant for protection of vulnerable catchments.

He said, “So we have two wonderful catchments. One is the Umiew catchment here in the Khasi Hills. The second is the Ganol catchment in the Garo Hills. This project is meant to protect these two catchments so that the water supply for the two urban centers of our state – Shillong and Tura is protected and is taken care of for generations to come.”