Day: May 2, 2023

SHILLONG, MAY 2: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said that the two chief ministers will soon decide on the date for holding the first round of border talks.

Speaking to reporters, Sangma said, “I had a couple of telephonic conversations with my counterpart from Assam. We are working out the dates and hopefully we should be able to initiate the first talk within the month of May itself. However, it is a process and we cannot expect everything to happen in one day but at least in the initial part we will try our best.”

“The good part is that since we are in direct talking terms we are talking to each other directly so we will be able to finalise the dates very soon. We have given two-three options to each other. Once we fix the exact dates I will definitely inform all of you,” he added

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SHILLONG, MAY 2: Minister in-charge Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Comingone Ymbon on Tuesday chaired a review meeting held at the head quarter of the United Nations World Food Programme India (UNWFPI), New Delhi.

The meeting was attended Pravin Bakshi, Commissioner & Secretary, Consumer Affairs Department Government of Meghalaya and Shai Kupar War, Officer on Special Duty with Mrs Elisabeth Faure, Country Director, India and Eric Kenefick, Deputy Director & Ankit Sood, Unit Head of Social Protection and Supply chain of United Nations World Food Programme India.

The meeting was held to assess various technology-driven initiatives undertaken as per the Memorandum of Understanding between the State Department and the United Nations World Food Programme India. like introducing Grain ATM (Annapurti) in the State, Improving Aadhaar seeding, Usage of electronic Point-of-Sale (e-POS) to ensure transparency and accountability, capturing all FPS GPS Coordinates for route optimization and tracking of movement of food grains across the State to prevent diversion of food grains, Main stream Data Analytics in PDS Monitoring system for data-driven decision making, Alternate storage mechanism to minimize storage loss and prepare strategic plan & way forward for Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs the next 5 years etc.

The United Nations World Food Programme has developed a tracking system for the State to monitor the movement of food grain in real time. Conducted IEC Campaign on ONORC developed posters which help migrant workers to lift ration from any FPS located across the State & Country.

The Food Civil Supplies & Consumers Affairs and United Nations World Food Programme India have conducted IEC Campaigns on Grievance Redressal for building awareness among the people on the feedback/complaint mechanism. Going forward, a Strategic comprehensive plan will be developed for the next five years with a special focus on enhancing nutrition security and making the Public Distribution System robust and transparent.

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SHILLONG, MAY 2: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday informed that the government will start engaging in discussion with stakeholders on the implementation of roster system post May 15.

Speaking to media persons, Sangma said that the government has taken multiple presentations from the departments on the matter and the cabinet is going through all the details and discussions with stakeholders will be held most likely post May 15.

“We will invite everybody. We intend to call all MDA members, all political parties, different civil societies from all areas and other important stakeholders including religious leaders because it is something we feel everybody should be involved in and must understand all the facts,” he said.

“So post the 15th of May, these series of meetings will start at the state level as well as the district level wherever it is necessary. So within this month itself post 15th of May the engagement will start,” he added. 

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SHILLONG, MAY 2: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday informed that scientific mining of coal will start very soon in the state.

Speaking to reporters, Sangma said, “I am happy to inform that about a week or 10 days back, Government of India has approved the mining leases to four miners. Hence, we have overcome the largest hurdles that we had for the process of scientific mining and legal mining to start in the state.”

“Therefore, now once we have the public hearing and the forest clearance and mining plan approved which are procedural aspects, which we would expect anything between 20-45 days these approvals will be done then the green signals for starting of scientific mining is through and hence this are major steps where we will finally see and move towards the aspects of scientific mining,” he said.

He said, “Of course, the actual implementation will have to be done then by the respective miners on the technology to be implemented as per the mining plan but my point is that the moment the lease was given, that is very important step as after that as I said we have crossed the most difficult hurdles and now we are on our way to see the process of scientific and legal mining started in our state.”

Meanwhile, a government official statement said that in a significant step towards initiating scientific coal mining, under the leadership of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, the State Government has availed the approval of the standard operating procedures for obtaining prospecting license and mining lease for coal in March 2021.

Continuing the momentum, the Ministry of Coal, Government of India on 25 th April 2023, has provided previous approval for mining lease to 4 applicants of the 17 prospecting license applicants.

“The commencement of scientific mining will be landmark in the history of Meghalaya, as it ensures minimal environmental impact through sustainable and legally compliant extraction procedure,” it said.

The statement also said as part of Scientific Mining, reclamation of coal mining areas and use of advanced technologies, such as remote sensing, aerial surveys, and 3D modelling, would be prioritised and environmental impact would be mitigated significantly.

“Initiation of scientific mining in the state, is a significant achievement for the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma led MDA government, who have a led a long relentless effort to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the citizens and revenue to the state’s exchequer,” it said while adding that the income generated from the mining sector, will be invested in the educational and healthcare sector, for the socio-economic prosperity of the state.

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SHILLONG, MAY 2: National People’s Party (NPP) national president Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said his party is waiting for the People Democratic Front (PDF) to take a decision on the proposed merger with the NPP

“We have been engaging with them and we have been discussing with them about the possibility,” Sangma said.

He said, “I am told the PDF is having a central executive committee meeting as we speak…and post that they will have a general council meeting so I think PDF leaders will be in a better position to telly ou what the decision they are taking.”

When asked, Sangma said, “As of now we are only discussing the matter so we will wait for the decision that they take and accordingly decide on how to move forward.”

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