Conrad blames poor roads for underdevelopment in Garo Hills

From A Correspondent

Tura, Oct 25:  tiol People's Party (NPP) chief and Tura Lok Sabha MP Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday introduced Benedict R Marak to the people of Raksamgre constituency in West Garo Hills, seeking their cooperation and support to ensure Benedict's victory in the 2018 Assembly election.

"Raksamgre has remained neglected for years. In the absence of proper roads, people at large and farmers in particular have to face hardship. The area has huge potential in farming sector and the farmers are very progressive. But due to poor road connectivity, the farm produce fails to reach the right market," he said.

He said, if the NPP gets the mandate of the people in 2018 election, the roads would be accorded top priority.

 "It's a painful situation that due to poor roads the people in the rural areas of Garo Hills do not have access to proper education, health and other facilities. Because of poor roads, government's welfare programmes fail to be implemented in right earnest. Development of a region largely depends on its communication infrastructure and we as a party are concerned about it. We have a vision that there should be equal development across Meghalaya and the issue of economic disparity is addressed," he said.

Addressing the crowd, he said that after being elected as MP of Tura Lok Sabha constituency he had raised the issue of good telecom connectivity in the Northeast, particularly in Garo Hills, as several areas are yet to receive mobile connectivity.

"I had several rounds of meeting with service providers for installation of towers in Garo Hills, so that people receive uninterrupted mobile connectivity across the region. We live in a digital age and connectivity is very important today for all our necessary engagement," Conrad added.

Talking elaborately on the education scerio of Garo Hills, particularly in unreached and hilly areas, Conrad informed the crowd that NPP's prime concern would be to improve the education sector in the State.

He also mentioned that efforts would be made to ensure that teachers remain well informed through orientation programmes. "We will ensure that rural schools are equipped with right infrastructure and the teachers get adequate support for discharging their responsibilities," he added.

He urged the crowd to support the candidature of Benedict and strengthen NPP. "Benedict is an able leader. He is passiote to work for the people. He wants to engage and understand your problems and address it. We see a future leader in Benedict to champion the cause of the people of Raksamgre constituency," he added.