Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday addressed the National Seminar on “Representation of Women of North East India in Multi–Disciplinary Discourse” at Don Bosco College, Tura.

The seminar was attended by scholars from different parts of the country, and papers were presented. The seminar saw the participation of Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma as well. The keynote address was delivered by Prof Sukalpa Bhattacharjee of the NEHU Shillong campus.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the government has conceptualized a programme to empower women through different economic activities. He further informed that through the SHG movement, the government is ensuring that women are made financially independent.

He told the gathering of a situation, where young women were at high risk due to childbirth without spacing of three years and some young women even giving birth to more than five children by the age of 23 years.

“So we had to come up with a solution which is long-lasting that ensures the health and well-being of a mother. The Safe Motherhood Programme addresses the concern of women. We have also introduced intervention that empowers women financially through income generating activities initiated through Self Help Group,” he added, while stating that economic empowerment of women is of paramount concern of the government.

He further informed that Meghalaya is one of the few states in the country, where 95 per cent of the women from rural areas are part of the Self Help Group movement. He said that there are over 4 lakh women under the SHG movement in the State, which was around 35,000 thousand prior to 2018.

He further said that the government is working with a positive mindset to provide different opportunities to enable the economic empowerment of women. He said that there are different problems confronting women but the government is working with an approach to provide effective solutions to those problems.

“Having a positive mindset does not mean that we overlook the problem. However, we come up with a perspective to address the concern and improve things. It is a challenge but we have to come up with an approach to ensure real change,” he stressed.

Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma, spoke at length on the contribution of women in different fields. He also urged the women to continue to overcome challenges and stand tall in making their contribution to society. He also said that women have better convincing power and their active participation is very important in different sectors.

The United Democratic Party (UDP) has urged the Centre to discourage radical elements who are trying to vitiate the atmosphere of hatred and animosity.

“We urged upon the Govt of the day to come up with strong measures to discourage radical elements to vitiate the atmosphere of hatred and animosity. Respect towards all religions should be maintained at all cost” UDP general secretary Jemino Mawthoh said in a statement.

He said the party expressed apprehension over the news item that two prominent church leaders from the state were being manhandled. “If the report is true, then it should be condemned strongly. India being a secular country, any form of discrimination and atrocities perpetrated by radical elements of any religious groups should not be tolerated,” Mawthoh added.

Shillong, March 2 (IANS) Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) is maintaining a lead in 23 seats as the counting of votes got underway on Thursday for the February 27 Meghalaya Assembly polls.

Compared to the two seats they won in the 2018 elections, the BJP is ahead in almost 10 seats, according to the early trends in counting.

While the Trinamool Congress is leading in 10 seats, the Congress party, which was the single largest party in Meghalaya in the last Assembly election, is trailing. The grand-old party is leading in only nine seats.

LIVE UPDATES: Meghalaya Assembly Election Results 2023

The other regional party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), has been projected to win six seats.

Notably, UDP was a part of the NPP-led government in Meghalaya for the last five years, although the party has not forged an alliance with the NPP and fought the election separately.