SHILLONG, DEC 27: Chief minister Mukul Sangma on Thursday said Meghalaya aims to achieve a rate of growth of 11 per cent in the 12th plan through sustainable livelihood programmes and investments in infrastructure and human resource development.
Speaking at the 57th National Development Council (NDC) meeting in New Delhi, the chief minister said the state’s growth during the 11th Plan has sustained a trajectory that has witnessed the economy grow from 3.8% in the Eighth plan to more than 8% in the 11 Plan. Attributing this to the secondary and the tertiary sectors, he emphasised on the need for more investments in the state from the Centre and the private sector to achieve higher growth rate.
He said that many more interventions were required from the Centre, with emphasise on improving the quality of life by way of opportunities for livelihoods, skill development, improvements in health services, education and, in particular, conserving natural resources. “I would like to project a growth target of about 11 percent in the Twelfth Plan period for the state which I am sure can be achieved through sustainable livelihood programmes and investments in infrastructure and human resource development”, he said.
Even though Meghalaya was on a high growth path, Sangma said, there were constraints such as high population growth, lack of skill enhancement, adequate leveraging of natural resources and proper market linkages. He stressed the Centre must come out with specific programmes for the north-east to increase rural tele-density to 70 per cent and also provide banking access to 90 percent of the populace.
The chief minister said the existing land custom stations in the region was in urgent need of basic infrastructure such as communication, power, etc. as this would provide an impetus to trade between India and bordering countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. “The opening of border haats has brought about renewed hope and has greatly improved the economy of the people residing along the Indo-Bangladesh border. We hope that more such border haats will be opened so that trade can flourish as it used to in the earlier times”, he said.
On rail connectivity, he said the state’s first railway line should be readied by March, 2013, and hoped that the other railway projects in the state will be completed during the 12th Five year plan. (By Our Reporter)
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