Tynsong slams Mukul Sangma-led Govt for playing politics over C&RD block office at Wapungskur

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 12, 2025

National People’s Party (NPP) state president and deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday slammed the then Mukul Sangma-led Congress government for playing politics over the issue of a Community Rural & Development (C&RD) block by shifting its headquarters from Wapung village to Lumshnong village and said this was the main reason behind his decision to quit the Congress and joined the NPP, which accordingly denotify the said notification.

He was an election campaign at Wapungskur village in East Jaintia Hills for drumming up support for the sitting MDC from Musniang-Rangad constituency Phasmon Dkhar in the forthcoming elections to the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), to be held on February 21.

“When I was holding the C&RD department portfolio during the tenure of Dr Mukul Sangma as chief minister, in fact we have notified and issued an order that the block headquarter will be set up at Wapung village but because of politics just before the election (in 2018) all of a sudden they issued another notification to shift the same to Lumshnong village. This is the main reason why I decided to come out of the Congress because as C&RD minister I had requested the village to provide land free of cost for setting up of the block office at Wapung,” Tynsong said.

“I came out of the Congress and immediately joined the NPP. The moment we took over the state government in 2018, we as NPP led government have revoked the notification and ensured that a block office is set up at Wapung village as decided from the beginning,” he added.

He also claimed that the NPP-led government has been able to bring many developments to the state during the past six-seven years.

Urging the people of the constituency to re-elect Dkhar, Tynsong said, “I appeal to all of you to allow Dkhar be a bridge between the constituency and the government, chief minister, deputy chief ministers in order for him to bring before us all the requirements and aspirations of the people.”

“I also urge the people to extend their full support to the NPP so that we can form the new executive committee in the JHADC to ensure all round development of the constituency and the region as a whole,” he added.

He also appreciated the decision of the village dorbar to organize the meeting away from the schools since students are having their board examination and said that the examination centre was also provided by the government in Wapung village.

Tynsong further criticized certain political parties which have recently threatened to file a case against traditional dorbar shnongs for their decision to organize common platform instead of public meetings and said, “Despite being a deputy chief minister, I still do not dare to go against the decision of a dorbar shnong in my own village (Wahkhen). Every time I want to have a public meeting before an election, I would first seek their permission and respect the decision of the dorbar shnong.”

Asking the youth not to get swayed by misinformation spread by opposition political parties, the deputy chief minister said, “They may allege that there is lack of employment opportunities but I tell you that the government has created lots of programmes including skill development for the unemployed youth. You please go and meet your respective BDOs, they will inform you about the different schemes and training that will help you get employment.”

“I urge the youth not to waste their time on misinformation shown on social media. It is unfortunate that nobody is interested in checking the government’s information about job vacancies shared on social media because people are too busy to watch misinformation on social media,” he added.

Tynsong further urged the people to utilize the BDO’s office to the maximum for getting information about the various initiatives taken by the government to address unemployment problems faced by the youth of the state.