Shillong, Feb 22: The National People’s Party (NPP) released its ‘People’s Document’ for the Assembly polls and promised to formulate an economic development policy for sustainable and all round development of the state and create an efficient and robust tax collection system to bring down the cost of tax collection and other administrative expenditure.
The document also assured that the NPP would formulate appropriate mining policy towards finding amicable and acceptable solutions to the current ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the state.
Since April 17, 2014, the NGT has banned coal mining in Meghalaya.
NPP national president, Conrad K. Sangma who campaigned an election rally at Jowai in the presence of other party leaders and candidates, released the document.
The NPP also promised to take initiatives to regulate private hospitals to rationalize healthcare cost and make quality healthcare accessible to one and all, improve rural and urban connectivity, formulate an effective and workable power policy and tourism policy, identify new destinations with focus on eco, cultural and adventure tourism, make sustained efforts towards making all towns clean and green, set up viable trade centres in border areas to maximize commercial trading with neighboring countries and encourage, set up agro-based, small scale and cottage industries, and formulate an effective state agriculture and horticulture policy, arts and culture policy, and address scarcity and shortage of potable drinking water and work towards ensuring timely sanction of development funds to minimize the delay in the implementation of projects.
The document also talked about formulating an effective education policy by focusing on quality education at all levels, rehabilitation of school and college drop-outs and ensure that modern Indian languages be made compulsory for Meghalaya Board of School Education syllabus till class 10, re-draft the school curriculum in line with NCERT guidelines and incorporate the state’s socio-cultural, political and historical knowledge system into the curriculum.
The party also assured of formulating an effective youth policy to promote sports in the state, improve rehabilitation centres for women, children, orphanage and juvenile homes, set up free drug rehabilitation centres to counter the problem of drug addiction and drug dependence, and address other social issues concerning the youth and women.
On women empowerment, the NPP promised to strengthen women cells in all police stations to handle crime against women, setting up of domestic violence and counseling cells in multiple locations throughout the state, and establish a state-of-the art forensic science laboratories, work towards ensuring peace, harmony and internal security by strengthening the law and order machinery of the state.