ACHIK asks Meghalaya CM to have political will to declare Tura as winter capital

SHILLONG, JULY 21: The Achik Conscious Holistically Integrated Krima (ACHIK) on Friday asked the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to have the political will to implement the backlog policy and declare Tura as a winter capital of the state.

“These steps are crucial for the equitable development and inclusive growth of the entire region,” ACHIK said.

It said that there has been an extraordinary show of unity where headmen and local leaders from various communities across Tura have come forward to support the ongoing indefinite hunger strike demanding the government’s attention on the two issues.

Speaking at the gathering, ACHIK’s spokesperson Labenn Ch Marak, said, “We urge the Chief Minister to look beyond mere administrative convenience and take into account the genuine concerns of the people in the western region. Tura, being a major town and the cultural heartland of the Garo community, deserves to be recognized as the winter capital. This move will not only boost development but also foster a sense of inclusion and equal representation.”

He said the winter capital concept envisions that during the harsh winter months, the state’s administrative machinery will operate from Tura instead of Shillong, the current capital. This approach aims to ensure that policy decisions and developmental initiatives are dispersed more evenly, avoiding the concentration of resources in a single region.

ACHIK also highlighted the big gap between Shillong and Tura in terms of distance which is a stretch of 323 Kms long, which is one of the major issues that the western part of Meghalaya faces in all aspects of office work.

The ACHIK leaders also highlighted the pressing need to address the backlog policy. This policy aims to address the historical neglect and discrimination faced by certain marginalized communities, especially in the western regions of Meghalaya. The backlog policy would involve allocating equal vacancies  and especially the jobs  the Garo people have been deprived of in terms government jobs in the past 50 years.

By Our Reporter