Shillong: On day-four of his political engagements in New Delhi, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sangma expressed his gratitude to the Government of India for providing Rs 5,105 crore from the share of central taxes, and Rs 1,279 crore as Revenue Gap Grant for the next financial year.
Sangma apprised the PM of several projects taken up by the state government. New initiatives which have been taken up to combat climate change in the State. The projects include – construction of a series of cascading small multipurpose reservoirs that will enable the impounding of the 3,700 mm of annual rainfall that the State receives.
Sangma informed, “The conserved water will be used for varied purposes including drinking, irrigation, fisheries and tourism development. An externally aided project of 100 million USD has been proposed to the Department of Economic Affairs to fund this ambitious project.”
He also informed the Prime Minister that cadre of natural resource management volunteers is being raised in each of the 6,500 villages of the State, which is part of the Meghalaya State Water Mission.
“This cadre will be trained and empowered so that they can integrate traditional knowledge and modern technology towards solving the challenges of climate change,” said Sangma.
He also informed the Prime Minister that Meghalaya envisages hosting an international conference on climate change and natural resource management with the participation of all the North Eastern Chief Ministers and other distinguished personalities in the field.
Also Read: ILP Row: Meghalaya CM meets Amit Shah again, NGOs find Shah’s response absurd
“The conference will provide a platform for showcasing the various climate-related good practices in the region and will bring out an action plan for climate change reversal and mitigation. It will also identify a cadre of youth from the region, who will play the lead role in taking forward the agenda, and would represent the region and the country in the COP26 Summit at Glasgow, UK,” informed Sangma.
He also sought for a convenient time from the Prime Minister, so that Meghalaya can hold the event in the next three months.
He also urged the Prime Minister to consider State-specific projects as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. The Chief Minister stated that the State-specific projects will go a long way taking forward the development agenda of the government in Meghalaya.
The Chief Minister also apprised the Prime Minister on two critical projects for Northeast – (a) Silchar – Mahendraganj – Hili road, which also includes a bridge over river Brahmaputra and (b) 8 – laning of Guwahati – Shillong – Dawki – Sylhet – Chittagong Highway.
