Women share experiences at Women’s Day event celebrated in Meghalaya’s capital city

Staff Reporter

Shillong, March 12: The Junior Chamber International (JCI) Shillong Pinecity celebrated Women’s Day at Prime Hub Meghalaya yesterday where women’s health and well – being were the main themes of the event.

Three accomplished women were invited to speak as guests as a part of the subject which included Shaidalin Marbaniang, a renowned female entrepreneur who makes completely compostable sanitary napkins, Dr. Jagjeet Sethi, a renowned dermatologist from Hope Clinic, Shillong, and Dr. Kerlin Mihsill, a renowned gynaecologist from Hope Clinic, Shillong.

The three notable speakers shared their personal and professional life experiences and well as their vision for women folk.

In addition to Dr. Sethi and Marbaniang educating the audience about women’s hygiene, well-being, and strategies to deal with medical issues, Dr. Mihsill gave a presentation on improving women’s health. The presentation was followed by an open forum where members and other guests put up questions which the speakers provided better understanding about the health and wellbeing of women.

It may be noted here that JCI Shillong Pinecity is the local branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI), a global non-profit organisation dedicated to developing young, engaged citizens and leaders. JCI operates by empowering its members to make a good, long-lasting difference in their local communities.

Meghalaya police breaks 50 year drug seizure record

Staff Reporter

Shillong, March 10: Director General of Police LR Bishnoi today said the police have arrested 234 drug peddlers and drug users in 2022 and seized drugs worth over Rs 50 crore from them surpassing the state’s collective records of the past 50 years.

ALSO READ: Drug users increasing in Shillong says DGP; 5 caught red handed with heroin in Mawprem

The police seized over 7 kg of heroin worth over Rs 45.22 crore and over 27,000 bottles of cough syrup worth over Rs 1.38 crore last year, he said.

“We have arrested 234 drug peddlers and drug users which include 20 women last year and seized drugs worth over Rs 50 crore,” Bishnoi said.

The drugs seized include over 7 kg of heroin worth over Rs 45.22 crore and over 27,000 bottles of cough syrup worth over Rs 1.38 crore last year besides other items like ganja (nearly 4 tonnes), opium (over 600 gm), methamphetamine tablets (over 12,800 tablets), he said.

ALSO READ: Drug seizures 20 times higher than previous years, says Meghalaya CEO

The DGP said that the recovery in 2022 has surpassed the recorded seizure of the past 50 years in this hill state and 116 cases were registered.

He also said that there is an upward trend of arrest, seizure and registration of drugs related cases this year too.

“In the first 70 days, 80 people were arrested and heroin seized was over 3 kg, ganja seized was 140 kg, 60,000 tablets, 22,000 bottles of cough syrups and Rs 28 lakh cash,” he said.

The DGP informed that 25 per cent of the arrests made were of traffickers from other states which include Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur besides Punjab, Bihar and Bengal.

Repenting that many of the jailed drug peddlers and users got bail, Bishnoi said that delay in getting reports from the Forensic Laboratories resulted in their securing bail from the courts.

He also informed that the police department has formed a supervisory committee headed by SP (CID) to monitor drug-related cases to ensure speedy submission of chargesheets and cases do not fail.

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/