Railways among 10 delayed projects in Meghalaya: DoNER Minister

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 27, 2025

The railway project is among the ten delayed projects sanctioned for the state of Meghalaya under the Development of North Eastern Region.

This was informed by the Union Minister of State DoNER Dr Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday even as he emphasized the importance of connectivity for the development of the state and the region as a whole.

Addressing media persons, Dr Majumdar said, “It (railways) is delayed because some portion of these projects is inside India and some is inside Bangladesh. It is almost 100 percent completed but the railway board has pointed out some lacunae in it and correcting measures are on and within a few months we will start the line.”

Seeking his comment on the stiff opposition against railway projects by NGOs in Meghalaya, the union minister of state however said, “You know connectivity is such a thing which is required for the development of any state and any region. Without connectivity you cannot do development and the thing is that now we have a huge number of educated youths in every state and for them you need jobs… So, I feel we should accept this truth and we should help connect the states either nationally or internationally and lots of work has been done under the leadership of Narendra Modiji and it is for the first time in several states the railway connectivity has reached in the country. So, connectivity is one of the most important things.”

He also emphasized that the government of Meghalaya should identify the villages and the towns in the border areas for their infrastructure development and said, “the Ministry of DoNER as well as the government of Meghalaya shall work towards completing the major projects in the state.”

The union minister of state also asked the state government to expedite the 10 delayed projects.

“We also discussed the status of delayed projects and the state government is doing the good work and they want to complete all those works within the stipulated time,” he said.

Asked, Dr Majumdar said, “Among the delayed projects some are feasible and some are not feasible. Within a few days the state government will communicate with the DoNER ministry that these following projects are not feasible and then they will ask for the same amount of funds for separate projects. In other cases, most of the projects are either 100 percent completed or 80 percent completed till now but in paper it is delayed projects because after completion of every project, there is a procedure of submitting the completion certificate and government formalities are there.”

“In some of the cases (UCs not submitted) but physically 100 percent completed but some needed for completion certificate so within few months I think the state government will be able to submit the completion certificate in most of the cases. But some projects are not feasible and in that case, the state will drop those projects and will ask for new projects,” he added.

He further informed that recently, the government of Meghalaya has made some changes as the logistic facility was not under the ministry.

“So, in the near future this logistic after they have brought it under the industry, the logistic facility will increase in the state of Meghalaya, which will promote job creation and tourism sector and other sectors of the state.”

Further, the union minister of state also informed that Meghalaya is a forerunner under the SDG Group 1 which related to no poverty, good health and well being, water sanitation but is a bit lacking in quality education, industry and innovation and said, “. I feel under the leadership of the chief minister, we will be able to bring the state to the forerunner.”

He said that the state is a performer when it comes to SDG Group 5 that is related to gender equality and affordable green and clean energy, economic growth and climate action.