Shillong, Apr 2: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and State Tourism Minister, Metbah Lyngdoh on Monday called on Union Minister of State for Tourism, K. J. Alphons and Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi.

During their meeting with Alphons, they sought his intervention for initiating “destination tourism” projects in Meghalaya and discussed development of tourism infrastructure and amenities in different tourist locations with particular focus on Sohra, Umiam and eco-tourism destination of Nokrek and Balpakram.

“We have to promote tourism around Unique Selling Points (USPs) of the region and the focus of the government will be to balance tourism potential of the State in sync with creating avenues for the farming community as well as youth to take entrepreneurial activities,” the Chief Minister said.

The Union Minister suggested the Chief Minister to also work on possibilities of promoting luxury tourism in the State harping on its rich potentials.

“Meghalaya is a priority State for the Ministry of Tourism and we are going to extend all possible help to boost tourism. I would personally take up the issue of road connectivity in Meghalaya with Union Transport Minister for his personal intervention,” Alphons told the Chief Minister.

Alphons also briefed the Chief Minister that 12 different locations have been identified in the Northeast to promote destination tourism including Sohra, where caving will the focus area of concern.

“We want to develop the cave network of Meghalaya and make it a major attraction for the tourist,” Alphons added.

Alphons also assured the Chief Minister that all pending tourism projects for Meghalaya would be accorded thrust and implemented in right earnest.

Meanwhile the Chief Minister along with the State Tourism Minister called on Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar and discussed issues pertaining to Meghalaya.

The Chief Minister sought the Minister’s support for development of water harvesting and check dams to tap on the rich sources of the State and provide safe drinking water to the people.

“We want to ensure that every village and household in Meghalaya have access to safe drinking water. The focus is to ensure that along all water sources, reservoirs are constructed, so that water can be made readily available to the people,” the Chief Minister said during his conversation with the Union Minister.

On a target basis, he said that Meghalaya wanted to create infrastructure to tap water resources, so that every household and villages can be covered over the next few years.

The Union Minister has suggested the Chief Minister to make an official visit to Himachal Pradesh and take cue on the best practices on water conservation and water distribution models initiating by the Himalayan State.

The Chief Minister also sought for full support for the successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadhak Yojana (PMGSY) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

“We want to implement all central Government schemes in right earnest and ensure monitoring and accountability,” the Chief Minister said in his deliberation, while apprising the Union Minister of the initiative to seek ground report on all projects and schemes from Deputy Commissioner of respective districts on a monthly basis and ministers’ visit every three months to different districts of Meghalaya and stay overnight and hold consultation with different stakeholders and public,” he said.