Meghalaya secretariat to be shifted to decongest Shillong

He said this is a long term measure as Shillong has become very congested and since government has developed the NST, it is in the fitness of things that the government uses the new city to help ease the congestion in the state capital.The state cabinet has also approved implementation of the Early Childhood Development Mission ECDM to cater to children in over 1,500 villages which are not covered under the ICDS program of the government.

Meghalaya Cabinet on Monday approved the shifting of the State Secretariat building which houses the offices of the Meghalaya government to the New Shillong Township (NST), Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said. The minister said the government has already acquired 807.7 acres of land in the NST and that a foundation stone for the new building will be laid on January 21, to mark the 50th year of Meghalaya becoming a state.

''We have approved the shifting of the administrative building of the government of Meghalaya to the NST near Mawpdang Mawkhanu in a phased manner,'' Rymbui said. He said the decision was made taking into consideration the traffic congestion in Shillong. He said this is a long term measure as Shillong has become very congested and since government has developed the NST, it is in the fitness of things that the government uses the new city to help ease the congestion in the state capital.

The state cabinet has also approved implementation of the Early Childhood Development Mission (ECDM) to cater to children in over 1,500 villages which are not covered under the ICDS program of the government. ECDM aims to develop children in a holistic manner in terms of nutrition, learning and health.

''Taking into consideration the need for early childhood development for the holistic development of the children, the cabinet has approved the ECDM,'' Rymbui said. He informed that the mission will be a convergence of the social welfare, health department, education department and other stakeholders for ensuring better health care and education of the children in the state. According to him, there are over 4 lakh children in the age group of 0-6 years in Meghalaya and only 4,000 plus villages are being covered under the ICDS program at present. He said the financial implication for implementation of the mission is around Rs 350 crore.

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