SHILLONG, Dec 28: Meghalaya Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma emphasized on the need for more investments in the state from the Centre and the private sector to achieve higher growth rate.
\nSangma expressed his views while speaking at the 57th National Development Council (NDC) meeting held at New Delhi.
\nHe said that many more interventions are required by the Centre focussing on improving quality of life in terms of more opportunities for livelihoods, skill development, improvements in health services, education and in particular, conserving natural resources.
\nHe said that the Meghalaya\u2019s growth during the Eleventh Plan has sustained a trajectory which has been exhibiting a clear rising trend from 3.8% in the Eighth Plan to more than 8% in the Eleventh Plan. He attributed this growth rate to the secondary and the tertiary sectors in the state.
\n\u201cI 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,\u201d Sangma asserted.
\n\u201cMeghalaya is on a high growth path. We have been trying out several new initiatives during the recent years so as to bring about growth which is sustainable and inclusive. We have been taking steps to overcome our constraints such as high population growth, need for skill enhancement, leveraging our natural resources, market linkages, etc. Further, there is also an urgent need for harnessing our strengths\u201d, said Sangma.
\nSpeaking on the connectivity issue in the region, he said that Meghalaya hopes to get its first railway line by March, 2013 and also the state will have other railway projects completed during the 12th Five year plan.
\nHe stressed that the Government of India must come out with specific programmes for the North East to increase rural tele-density to 70 percent and also providing banking access to 90 percent of the populace. He also spoke about the State\u2019s flagship programme, the \u201cIntegrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion Programme (IBDLP)\u201d, launched in April this year which aims to create opportunities in horticulture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, sericulture and weaving, apiculture, energy, water and natural resource management.
\nHe said the basic infrastructure such as communication, power, etc. to the existing land custom stations in the region is urgently required as this will provide an impetus to trade between our country and Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
\n\u201cThe 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\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n