Unwell Meghalaya governor cuts short his budget speech

Shillong: Meghalaya governor Phagu Chauhan cut short his address on the first day of the budget session of the assembly on Friday as he was unwell. Chauhan spoke a few words in Khasi and Garo, the two indigenous languages of the state.Speaker Thomas A Sangma announced that the remaining portion of the governor’s speech, which was delivered in Hindi and English copies of which were distributed, should be considered as read.Stating that state govt has set an ambitious target of making Meghalaya a 10 billion US dollars economy by 2028, thereby doubling the state’s GDP, the governor said sectors like infrastructure, power, water supply, investment promotion, IT, tourism and agriculture will drive the economic growth necessary for achieving that target.“Following the signing of the historic memorandum of understanding in 2022 for six areas of differences, the process of survey has been initiated to demarcate the inter-state boundary. The chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya met again in May 2023 to initiate the process of resolving the dispute in the remaining six areas. The regional committees have conducted meetings with their Assam counterparts and the process for resolution of the remaining six areas is on track,” he said.“The state envisions doubling the farmers’ income by leveraging Meghalaya’s unique agro-climate conditions and by strengthening and innovating value chains. To this end, govt is prioritizing farm to table interventions in high-value crops like turmeric, ginger, oranges, pineapple, herbs, spices and honey in mission mode,” he said, adding that these produces were being exported.“Meghalaya’s public health indicators have shown a remarkable improvement in the last few years. The state has experienced a 50% reduction in maternal death following the introduction of the Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Scheme,” he added.“The government remains committed to providing quality education at all levels under improved learning conditions. To that end, the government is currently upgrading the existing infrastructure in all schools,” he said.“The government has formulated the new Meghalaya Industrial & Investment Promotion Policy to provide a framework for attracting investment in the state and generating employment opportunities,” he added.