Meghalaya Election: Congress Promises Financial Support To Single Mothers, Drugs Crackdown

Meghalaya Congress chief Vincent H Pala and Congress general secretary in charge for the state Manish Chatrath announced 5 poll pledges for the people.

Shillong: Kickstarting its poll campaign, the Congress on Thursday made five pledges for the people of the hill state. The party said that it wanted to make Meghalaya a "five-star state". Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Vincent H Pala, along with All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge for the state Manish Chatrath, announced the pledges at the party headquarters in the capital Shillong.

“Direct transfer of Rs 3,000 per month to single mothers who are Below Poverty Line (BPL) and are raising their children alone tops our five commitments. This will empower women, giving them financial independence and helping them in running their houses better. Rs 3,000 a month translates to Rs 36,000 a year. It is a substantial amount and will help women pay the school fees of their children and tame inflation,” said Pala while addressing the media.

“Our second commitment is to provide jobs to deserving candidates from every household of Meghalaya. Lack of decent employment opportunities in the state has fuelled the desperation amongst our youngsters and they are compelled to migrate to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, et al to meet their basic needs,” Pala said. He added that Congress is committed to bringing Meghalaya’s youths out of the situation of despondency and dejection.

AICC General secretary in charge of Meghalaya, Manish Chatrath took potshots at the incumbent National People’s Party (NPP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, saying that it did nothing constructive to channel youth energy in the right direction. “Law and Order in Meghalaya was the first victim of the poor governance administered by the NPP-BJP coalition. Large-scale unemployment among the youth made them gullible and drug smuggling from across the border worsened the situation,” said Chatrath, insisting that the Congress party is committed to make Meghalaya a drug-free state.

Chatrath also said that Congress would put an end to corruption in Meghalaya.

“We are coming up with a transparency law which would be a Mother of Right To Information (RTI). The Congress government brought the Right to Information Act to empower common citizens but the Modi government at the centre and NPP regime in the state diluted the law step by step and ultimately left it inconsequential,” said Chatrath.

“Congress would mandate successive governments to upload all files related to development and infrastructure on official portals six months after their closure to bring in transparency in governance, which would reduce corruption to a great extent,” he added.

The fifth pledge of the Congress is to provide uninterrupted and regular electricity supply to all commercial and domestic users, said Chatrath. Prolonged power cuts have affected the production and revenue of the entrepreneurs in the state and also had a negative impact on the learning and growth of kids who find it difficult to study in the dark.

"The Congress's commitment of uninterrupted power supply will not only boost state industrial growth but also ensure children’s all-round development," he said.

The term of the 60-seat Meghalaya Assembly will end on March 15, 2023. The voting in the state will be held in a single phase on February 27 and the result will be declared on March 2.