Meghalaya Assembly Speaker wants approval of new dome design expedited

Staff Reporter

Shillong, March 13: Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma has asked the Public Works Department (Building) to speed up getting the approval of the new design for the dome of the new Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang.

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“I have already instructed and requested the PWD (Building) to expedite approval of the new design without which the work cannot start,” Sangma told reporters after conducting an inspection to the construction site today.

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Stating that the progress of work is satisfactory, the Speaker however said, “The middle portion which is the main chamber –where the dome had collapsed – that part is still not started, otherwise the left wing and the right wing (of the new Assembly building) are almost completed.”

“80 percent of the works are already completed but we can’t have an Assembly without the main chamber. There is a new design of the dome which has to be vetted and approved by two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) – IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati. So we are waiting for their approval of the new design,” he said.

Sangma also informed that he is also in the process of reconstituting the High Powered Committee (HPC).

The dome of the under-construction new building of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly had collapsed on May 22, last year.

When asked, the Speaker said the implementing agencies have been asked to remove debris (caused by the dome collapsed) by April 15.

“That was the only deadline we have set today because without which the work cannot start and without the approval of the new design work cannot start. Only when the work starts then we can set a timeline (for completion of the new Assembly building),” he added.

On the allegations of corruption in the construction of the new Assembly, the Speaker said, “Such allegations of corruption have not come to his notice. If there is any I can assure you that my office will be very transparent in this regard and we will try our best not to have any kind of allegation…we will try to be transparent as much as possible.”

He assured by saying, “I would look into this but just based on somebody (allegation) or without any written complaint or without any proof or evidence, I cannot just go about kind of taking unnecessary things out in the open. I will certainly look into it but as I told you earlier it has not come to my notice yet but if it comes if I feel that there is some kind of misconduct or something unusual I will certainly look into it.”

Admitting that the Assembly has been functioning from a temporary building for several years, the Speaker said that he would like to see the new building of the Assembly completed during his time.

“I feel that I should be able to step into that new Assembly during my time. I don’t know there are so many things. This is the only first phase. There will be a second phase which will include the staff quarters, the minister’s quarters, speaker’s residential quarter, MLA hostels, hospital, school,” he said while informing that they have decided to push the government to also start the second phase simultaneously side by side.

From shop keeping to becoming a knitting entrepreneur- The story of Malpleasha Mylliemngap

Shillong | March 8, 2023

Malpleasha Mylliemngap, is a mother of 5 who hails from Laitkroh, East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. Prior to taking up knitting garments as a full fledged business activity, her main source of livelihood was through shop keeping. Knitting was only a hobby before she took it up as a livelihood activity.

It was on days when her shopkeeping business was very low that she started knitting boots for babies through which she received many other orders because of the unique designs and quality products. Soon after, she also got orders for knitted scarves and shawls. Through her undivided commitment and perseverance, more orders came in for knitted caps, socks, purses, hoodies and dresses. She extensively relied on YouTube tutorials to learn different techniques and designs.

She also started a knitting class at the cost of five hundred rupees (₹500/-) per person where she provides training to the youth not only to upskill them but for employment generation. She has created a name for herself in her village and her daughter who is also a nurse makes time amidst her busy schedule to learn her mother’s craft.

Malpleasha wishes to expand her business and be able to be completely depend on it for her daily sustenance. As the knitting process is a tedious one that requires a lot of time and patience along with skills, it was a challenge for her to complete all orders on time because she did not have additional skilled manpower to help her. She also struggles with the lack of readily available and cheaper wool. The wool that she uses is bought from Shillong which is approximately 25km from her village.

Her enthusiasm for knitting led her to get identified under the PRIME Sauramandala Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (PSREF), a project under PRIME Meghalaya. Now she also hopes to come up with an official brand name for her products and also be financially able to purchase machines to produce uniform products. She was able to make the most use of support provided to her as part of the PRIME programme that helped her realize her potential.

This article has been featured in collaboration with PRIME Entrepreneurship Meghalaya. To know more about PRIME, visit: https://www.primemeghalaya.com/