Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma has announced Mairang Civil Sub-Division to be upgraded to a full-fledged district.
The Chief Minister made the announcement at Manai village on Wednesday to inaugurate various projects. Stating that since last year the State government is trying to emulate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) model of the United Nations and started ranking the districts, Sangma said it was found that West Khasi Hills district scored the last.
“The districts that ranked in the bottom two viz South West Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills shows that there is systematic and administrative issues in these districts and hence the need of administrative unit at Mairang,” he said.
Sangma said that the government has always stressed on bring administration closer to the people and there are demands from different quarters across the State for civil subdivisions, districts and administrative units.
While all the demands are being looked into by the High Level Committee headed by the Chief Secretary, the Chief Minister said, “While creating new administrative units there is also a need for the government to be calculative in terms of funding and the government has to balance between creating new administrative units and strengthening the existing ones.”
During his visit to Mairang, the Chief Minister inaugurated the dorbar hall, football playground, internal PWD road and the VIP gallery in the presence of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker, Metbah Lyngdoh, Water Resource Minister, H Brolding Nongsiej and PHE Minister, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that the government is working tirelessly to bring developments to the people. He informed that 2020 in spite of being a very challenging year due to the Covid pandemic was also one of the most productive years of the State that reflected the work that is going on at the grassroot level.
He also highlighted the developmental projects in different sectors like Education, Health and Police during the current financial year and in the next two years. “The government in the last three years has worked tirelessly to improve overall governance and delivery system in the grassroot level to ensure efficient implementation of schemes and governance and will continue to bring in reforms to take the State forward,” he said.
The Chief Minister also inspected the U Tirot Sing Hospital at Mairang.Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has promised to upgrade Mairang civil sub-division into a new district in the State.
Sangma made the announcement at a function held in Manai village today where Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh and cabinet minister Brolding Nongsiej were also present.
It may be mentioned that Lyngdoh is the MLA of Mairang constituency while Nongsiej is the MLA of Mawthadraishan constituency.
Both the constituencies fall under Mairang civil sub-division and are part of West Khasi Hills district.
“I am very pleased to announce that we will have a district in Mairang,” Sangma said.
“There is a clear structural and administrative challenge in West Khasi Hills. It is clear that West Khasi Hills needs a structural change,” he added.
Sangma also informed that a high level committee headed by the Chief Secretary is working on the official procedures needed for creation of the new district.
“After the report is submitted, we will take a decision on the matter,” he added.
Speaking at the function, Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh said that Mairang civil sub-division deserved to be upgraded into a district.
“I have discussed with the chief minister on many occasion for about three years now on the need to upgrade Mairang civil sub-division to a district level. It is one of the oldest civil sub-divisions in the State,” Lyngdoh said.
According to him, the purpose was not for political mileage but to bring the administration closer to the people.
Mawthadraishan MLA and cabinet minister Brolding Nongsiej said that at present the State has just eleven districts.
“For parity, eleven is not enough. We need to have twelve,” Nongsiej said.
