Meghalaya Budget Session to commence from March 20

Staff Reporter

Shillong, March 13: The budget session of the eleventh Meghalaya Legislative Assembly will be held from March 20 to March 28.

The calendar for the upcoming session was approved during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) chaired by the Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma here today.

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The meeting was attended by deputy chief minister in-charge parliamentary affairs Prestone Tynsong, former minister Lahkmen Rymbui and opposition members – Charles Pyngrope of the AITC and Dr Celestine Lyngdoh of the Congress.

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“We decided to have a full budget session starting from March 20 till March 28,” Sangma told reporters.

“Since it is the financial year ending month so our officials and the government need to clear all the pending financial issues so we decided to end the budget session on March 28 so that March 29 to 31 will be available for the officials in the secretariat and districts to clear the financial dues,” he added.

He said there will be seven working days of which government business has been allotted for five days while for private members’ business for two days.

Sangma also informed that the election of the Deputy Speaker will be held on March 20.

“We are giving notification from tomorrow so that intending candidates can file their nominations and we will have the election on the first day of the budget session,” he said.

The Speaker said, “It is up to them (opposition parties). If they file the nomination everyone is welcome. But if they don’t file, of course like me, the deputy speaker will also be elected unopposed.”

When asked, Sangma said, “It is five days for government business. It is at the discretion of the Speaker so I may extend the time. I have sat in parliament where discussion went till midnight 12 am so if not till midnight but will have till late evening if necessary if required.”

Meanwhile, the Speaker informed that he has received applications from the Congress and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) requesting for his recognition while the Voice of the People Party has not submitted any kind of indication to be part of the opposition bench.

“The office is examining the matter,” he said while adding that the Congress and AITC are seeking recognition as separate entities and not as a Forum.

Stories of a Shillong boy Part 1: Hill Boy and the Desert

There is a little 10 year old boy in Shillong who has a funny way of looking at things. I call him “Ray” – A named derived from his Khasi first name. I am his mother and this is one of the many stories I have about him.

Now Ray had an intense hate for two subjects in school – science and geography. I’m still drawing nonsensical circles around science, but I think I’ve cracked geography and a geography lesson is one of the most fun things we do together now. I want to talk about a lesson we did a little while ago.

In this lesson, we read about the Thar Desert. The book said something really scary to Ray. It told him that the desert is expanding because we cut down forests and let our cattle eat away all our grasslands. This really worried him. Before we could go on with the lesson, he said, “But I don’t want the desert to reach the Meghalaya.”

I looked at him and said, “It won’t.”

“But the book says that it will.” He insists. “I don’t want to live in a desert.”

I had to think for a bit. See Ray has this way of getting fixated on something and then he dwells on it – a reason why I tutor him myself by redoing every chapter that his teachers have taught in school. His head is full of questions that he would never ask in a classroom kind of space, but he would demand an answer out of me.

“It will not happen tomorrow Ray.” I said, “We’ll all be dead and gone by then. There is no need to stress.”

This did not put him at ease at all. He was worried. “I don’t want to live in India anymore if the desert is growing mei. We have to leave India.”

“There are deserts everywhere.” I said.

“This can happen all over the world?” he asked sounding completely helpless.

“Yes.” I said thinking of Mad Max Fury Road. “But it won’t happen anytime soon. It will probably happen during the time of your great great great great grandchild so you have nothing to worry about.”

This calmed him down for a little while and I was able to finish the lesson. He had his dinner after that, brushed his teeth and got into bed.

As I was tucking him in he said softly, “But I want my great great great great grand son or daughter to live also.”

And it suddenly struck me that even I want my great great great great great grandchild to live.

(This piece has been written by Dalariti Nongpiur with illustrations by Hazel Kharkongor)

Upscaling Hobby to Business- the story of Harador Khariong’s Plant Parenthood

“If done with full commitment and passion whether it’s art, science or music, one can achieve their goal to make things work better and the satisfaction you will get is beyond your imagination”— Harador Khariong, Founder-Plant Parenthood
For Harador Khariong, a resident of Wahingdoh Shillong, East Khasi Hills Meghalaya, Plant Parenthood started as a hobby and out of love for plants during her college days. This eventually became more interesting and turned to be a career option in planting in the year 2020, especially succulents because they were relatively easier to take care of.
It was during the Northeast Food Show 2022 that Harador saw few entrepreneurs with their stall under the umbrella of PRIME, after which she learned in detail about PRIME and how it has helped entrepreneurs succeed in their business. Therefore, in the same year she enrolled herself in the Pre – Incubation batch 3.
Through the PRIME’s Pre-Incubation program, she learned more about upscaling her business and ultimately launched the ‘Plant Parenthood’ initiative.
This article has been featured in collaboration with PRIME Entrepreneurship Meghalaya. To know more about PRIME, visit: https://www.primemeghalaya.com/