Governor graces the 51st anniversary of Meghalaya Day
The Governor said that Meghalaya's Statehood movement was a genuine and hard-pursued peoples' movement.
SHILLONG- The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya Brig. (Dr.) B.D. Mishra (Retd.) participated in the 51st anniversary of Meghalaya Day at Shillong on 21st January 2023. The Governor greeted the people of the State and recalled that 51 years ago on 21stJanuary in 1972, the late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi presided over the historic function of the creation of the full-fledged State of Meghalaya at Polo ground, Shillong, thus fulfilling the long cherished political aspirations of our people of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills.
The Governor said that Meghalaya’s Statehood movement was a genuine and hard-pursued peoples’ movement. In spite of numerous challenges, the united efforts of our visionary leaders and the aspirations of our people for the recognition of our traditions and values, secured for us this beautiful State of our own, while recalling eminent leaders, B.B Lyngdoh, Edwin Bareh, Capt. W.A Sangma, H.S Lyngdoh, Professor G.G. Swell, Stanley Nichols Roy, H. Hynniewta, Wilson Reade, Prof. R. S Lyngdoh and many others. It is due to their vision and determination that today we have our own Government to meet our own aspirations, he said.
The Governor called upon the people of the State to reiterate the commitment to wisely use the State’s resources and revolutionize the administrative machinery to make Meghalaya a role model of all-round development. He said that in the past 51 years Meghalaya has made good progress in agriculture, tourism, power generation, education, information technology and utilization of mineral resources. Like the rest of the country agriculture and its allied activities are the backbone of the economy of the State.
We are committed to developing it. Accordingly, innovations in the field of agriculture have firmly put Meghalaya on the agricultural map of the country. Initiatives have been taken in propagating low volume high value crops which have brought about positive changes in the lives of farmers of the State. Recognizing this potential, the State is working with different agencies to chalk out a comprehensive roadmap for strategic intervention for location-specific agriculture growth.
The State is striving towards holistic development of infrastructural facilities, marketing linkages, post-harvest management and value addition. As a step in this direction, Farmer Markets, new Horti-Hubs and cold storage chains are being established.
The Governor said that building up on the tradition of organic farming, the State has actively created awareness-cum-promotional campaigns for consumers. It is encouraging our farmers to adopt organic farming and prioritize crops for certification processes.
Highlighting the initiatives of the State in tourism, education, hydro-electricity, health and connectivity, the Governor said that improving connectivity is crucial to the progressive building of the future of the State. Efforts are on to upgrade and build roads and bridges in different districts of the State. The four-laning of NH 40 and the Shillong ByPass has substantially eased the traffic woes of the commuters.
He said that health is another area of core concern and focus. The State committed to provide quality health care services to our people, particularly in remote areas. The Government is receptive to the concept of public-private partnerships in the fields of health management, research, training and emergency health response services. Having identified areas of concern, the State extended the reach of health services through increasing the number of hospitals, CHCs, PHCs and Sub-Centres, he said.
The Governor said that tourism activities are not only for the economic growth of the State but are also in keeping with our time-honoured traditions of respecting and offering the best to the guests. United efforts are underway to make Brand Meghalaya a force to reckon with.
To cement our commitment to achieve this goal, the Tourism Policy has been adopted wherein the Government will help create the basic infrastructure for tourism development and the private sector will help to provide quality products by activating the support services. Such initiatives will go a long way in opening up employment opportunities for our educated unemployed youths, he said.
The Governor, while congratulating Meghalaya Day of Excellence Awardees said that the awards have been presented to well deserving employees in recognition of their meritorious services to the Public. The State knows that productive and efficient Government machinery is greatly dependent on the diligent and sincere functioning of its employees. He reposed his trust that the example set by the awardees will inspire others to emulate them. He also extended his heartfelt congratulations to all the Meghalaya Day and Police Medal awardees whose names were announced.
