Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 21
Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya celebrated their 47th Statehood Day on Monday.
The erstwhile princely states of Tripura and Manipur were merged into the Indian Union in October 1949 and became full-fledged states on January 21, 1972.
Meghalaya was part of Assam before becoming a full-fledged state under the North Eastern Region (Re-Organisation) Act, 1971.
Addressing the main function of the Statehood Day in Tripura, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that his government's main goal was to make the state "drug free" and ensure efficient and transparent governance.
"The BJP-IPFT government's main mission is to deliver efficient and transparent governance. The law enforcing agencies have maximised their insistent efforts to make Tripura a "drug free state", as declared by the BJP government," Deb said.
He said in the last ten months various law enforcing agencies have seized over 65,000 kg ganja (cannabis) and various other drugs and 660 people were arrested in connection with the drug menace.
The market rate of 65,000 kg of ganja is around Rs. 36 crore.
The Chief Minister said that with the digitisation of many government services and works, people are benefited in numerous ways and transparency has been established in governance.
In Manipur, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, while addressing a gathering at the Manipur Rifles parade ground, urged all sections of the society to extend their support to the government for all round development of the state.
He said that the newly launched 'School Fagat-hansi' mission (School Improvement Mission) would bring visible changes and improvement in the education sector of the State.
The Chief Minister stated that a new revolution in education sector should start from grassroots so that the State could produce hard working, dedicated, sincere and patriotic citizens in the coming days.
He appealed the government officials to work with sincerity and honesty for the welfare and development of the State.
The Chief Minister said that 'Go to Village' mission was introduced to provide good governance at the doorsteps of the people living in nook and corner of the State.
Singh reiterated that it is the duty of the government to honour those officers whose commitment and dedication have made the 'Go to Village' mission successful. Biren then appealed the DCs, SDOs and concerned officers to verify those left out beneficiaries as soon as possible so that the eligible beneficiaries can avail the benefits under various welfare schemes.
During the function, the Chief Minister felicitated various officers who had been engaging for the successful of the 'Go to Village' mission.
In Meghalaya, a week-long programme on the theme, 'Celebrating Meghalaya-India', on the occasion of the 47th Statehood Day and the 70th Republic Day began on Monday in different districts.
Making the government secretariat an energy efficient building by shifting to the use of LED lights will be one of the programmes to be achieved within hundred days.
“The urban department will also be asked to replace all street lights with LED lights. This will be done on a public-private-partnership mode and the saving we make from power consumption will be paid back to the private investors,” he said.
Urging people to start using electric vehicles, Conrad said that he will also start doing so while adding that charging points will be installed in the secretariat and other places.
He said different departments including health, agriculture, tourism and others will also come up with programmes which they will be directed to achieve within a specified period of time.
Asserting the need to work with other states, Conrad said that states can help each other instead of always seeking support from the Central government.
Conrad meanwhile lamented that over 12,000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) are yet to receive loans from the banks despite of the fact that the banks have set a target to extend the same to around 2000 SHGs within this financial year.
Remembering the leaders who spearheaded the hill state movement, Conrad also emphasized the need to document and collect information related to the struggles that led to Meghalaya attaining statehood in 1972.
“The state is going to celebrate its 50th year in 2022. I urge the Directorate of Public Relations (DIPR) to start documenting the journey of the state. I have also discussed with the chief secretary the need for museums to have a section which talks about hill state movement leaders and their struggles,” he said.
He also said that Meghalaya Day needs to be celebrated with enthusiasm and assured that there will be more efforts in this regard. “It is important to remind ourselves especially the younger generation about the struggles of our forefathers which will allow us to value the fact we have our own state,” the CM added.
