SHILLONG, DEC 1: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma inaugurated the newly created Purakhasia C&RD block at Chongnapara in South West Garo Hills district in the presence of local MLA Winnerson D Sangma, Co-Chairman, State Planning Board, Ian Botham K.Sangma and host of other dignitaries and district administration officials on Thursday.
Before, the creation of the Block, the people of Purakhasia area which earlier was under Dalu C&RD Block in West Garo Hills, had to face a lot of difficulties as they had to travel more than an hour to the headquarter even for minor works.
In his inaugural address, the Chief Minister said that although Meghalaya is a small state there are more than 6000 villages and localities making it difficult for the Government to reach all developmental works to each and every village, and therefore there is a need to create more C&RD blocks, sub-divisions and administrative units so as to bring administration closer to the public. As such, the Government is working hard to create more new blocks in different parts of the state according to the needs of the area, he added. He assured that with the creation of the new block, many developmental projects and programs will be reaching the people of the block.
Earlier, Chief Minister handed over the Governor’s Notification for creation of Purakhasia Block to the District Administration of South West Garo Hills represented by Ms. A.V.D. Shira, ADC, after it was read out by the Joint Secretary, C&RD, Ms. S.R. Marak.
Later, the Chief Minister also distributed FOCUS Plus cards to beneficiaries, piglets and chicks under PROGRESS to SHGs and hybrid seeds to farmers under MeghaLAMP project funded by IFAD.
FOCUS Plus is an extension of Meghalaya Government’s biggest program of giving financial assistance directly to the beneficiaries. The Chief Minister said FOCUS+ was launched to celebrate the success of FOCUS, which has benefited 4.5 lakh farmers who had formed and registered themselves as Producers Groups. Urging the farmers as well as SHGs to register for FOCUS + to avail its benefits, he assured the money will be given to the beneficiaries by 5th December and again on 12th December, 2022 in a phased manner.
“FOCUS + is a Meghalaya specific programme and is not centrally sponsored”, he added.
The Chief Minister also spoke about implementation of PROGRESS and YESS programs in the state. He said YESS Meghalaya is a very unique program of the Government under which youth groups and organizations are given upto Rs.1 lakh assistance for youth specific programs and events.
By Our Reporter
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