Shillong, Jan 10: The Meghalaya government on Monday decided to go ahead with statehood’s Golden Jubilee celebration but on a smaller scale.
Speaking to reporters after a review meeting, Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma said, “The government has decided we will be having the 50th Golden Jubilee celebrations but it will be on a much lesser scale as compared to what we had planned before the outbreak of the Omicron variant.â€
Sangma said that the official programme on January 21 will be held in JN Complex and around 3000 people will be accommodated.
‘We will be going with the protocols of having 30 percent and in those 30 percent we will be having people from all over the place who will be participating in that programme,†the Chief Minister said.
He also informed that different programmes will take place during that time and all the other districts will also be connecting online to Shillong programme and participating and therefore there will be no separate programmes in the district headquarters.
Sangma also said that the State government is waiting for confirmation from the PMO, whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the programme or not.
The Chief Minister said that once they get a confirmation whether Modi is coming or not then accordingly the further details of the programme will be discussed.
Sangma also informed that no decision on lockdown has been taken yet since the government wants to ensure that livelihood is not affected.
“But obviously if the situation goes beyond a certain point then we will be forced to take decisions. That’s why we are taking precautionary measures and also requesting people to also be careful,†he said.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that it is important to look at the State’s hospitalisation rates and those who are in the ICU.
According to Sangma, in the current wave the hospitalisation rate is not as high compared to that of the last wave.
He said that the State needs to focus the hospitalisation rate.
“As of now things are very much under control we have enough beds available. So we are keeping a watch on the situation,†Sangma said.
The Chief Minister also urged everybody to focus on two aspects – vaccination and follow protocols.
“This is a very critical time and this is the time when this virus is spreading and the only way to ensure that it does not affect you or your family is to follow the protocols and get vaccinated,†Sangma said.