Leader of the opposition, Dr Mukul Sangma, today said that schools in rural areas of Meghalaya are closing under the current state government because no recruitments are being made.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, at a block-level meeting in Phulbari, West Garo Hills, told a large crowd that there have been several school shutdowns in rural places.
“It is being heard that the MDA government is not recruiting teachers anymore. They have closed schools in the rural areas. I am someone who was educated in a rural school. My existence depends on the existence of the schools,” he said.
Commenting on the plight of underprivileged children under the MDA government’s rule, he added, “The underprivileged children can gain so much from the mere existence of schools in rural areas as a support system for their growth. The incumbent dispensation is one who shuns education!”
Harking back to his own administration, Dr Sangma said “We have embarked upon legislation that there is a binding responsibility from both the state and the union government; education being a concurrent subject. But today if you look at how the government of the day has been completely insensitive to this very constitutional responsibility, social responsibility-that itself gives the interpretation of the current state of education. The government’s priority and focus are completely dislocated. They have got their priority wrong. The interest of the people and the state should be seen-that is what exactly is missing today.”
He also stated that he completed all PMGSY road projects through the state government alone as the central government “could not provide sufficient funding”. In this, he was referring to what he described as infrastructure failures on the part of the NPP-led government.
Supporting Dr Sangma’s statements, TMC Balachanda MDC, Agassi Marak, commented, “Dr Sangma is teaching us to step in a new direction, to bring positive change in the state.”
