The Meghalaya High Court has asked the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) to act in conjunction with the municipality to ease the citizens’ woes in regard to the garbage collection in Jowai town.

“In the meantime, the Jaintia District Council should act in conjunction with the Municipality to ease the citizens’ woes,” the division bench said in its order passed after hearing a PIL filed by the Synjuk Ki Waheh Shnong Jowai.

An affidavit has been filed by the Jowai Municipality pursuant to the order dated April 17, 2023.

The petitioner flagged several issues and said that all is not well in the matter of collection of garbage in the town of Jowai.

The petitioner’s affidavit in such regard should be filed within a week from date, the bench said while adding that the matter will appear 10 days hence.

The next hearing on the matter will be held on May 12.

The Meghalaya High Court today directed the Jowai Municipal Board to file an affidavit to indicate how the garbage is being disposed of at the moment in Jowai town.

Hearing a PIL filed by the Synjuk Ki Waheh Shnong Jowai, the division bench said that despite the Jowai Municipality’s assertion that a better schedule for garbage collection is now in place, the petitioner complained that collection takes place only several times a month, rather than several times a week.

Despite previous observations, both the Jowai Municipality and the State appear to be rather indifferent to the plight of the residents in Jowai, it said.

The Court said since the Municipality claims that a better schedule is in operation and seriously disputes the submission made on behalf of the petitioner, the relevant schedule should be disclosed by way of an affidavit when the matter appears a week hence.

“The schedule should indicate the localities where trucks are assigned, the registration numbers of the trucks and the duration that the trucks remain for collection of garbage at various localities. A map of Jowai should accompany the affidavit to indicate that the entirety of the town is covered by the garbage collection drive. The Municipality should also indicate how the garbage is being disposed of at the moment, even while the compost plant is being made ready,” it said in the order.

The next hearing will be held on April 27.

Staff Reporter

Shillong, April 4: The Governor of Meghalaya, Phagu Chauhan today graced the 36th Convocation of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) at IGNOU Regional Center Shillong, NEHU Campus. The Convocation was part of the main function conducted at IGNOU Headquarters at New Delhi and also simultaneously in all 33 Regional Centers across the country.

Delivering the Convocation Address, the Governor lauded the Indira Gandhi National Open University for taking the national responsibility of promoting and setting benchmarks for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and online education (OL) in Meghalasystems in India and the world. “IGNOU, which is known to be the World’s largest open University with above 3 million enrolments of students in different IGNOU programmes, has made significant contributions to democratizing Higher Education in the country by providing access to a large number of aspirants through the Open & Distance mode and through online mode,” he added.

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Stressing on the need for shifting from the conventional degree to Skill Development, Employability, Entrepreneurship and Community Development programs, the Governor reiterated the importance for every University in India to make its academic programmes more futuristic and need-oriented. “The NEP puts a greater emphasis on restructuring academic programmes to make them multidisciplinary and holistic. Academic programmes should focus not only on the creation of new knowledge but also to acquire skills required for the job market”, he said.

The Governor further stated that to fulfill India’s mission and goal set by NEP 2020, there is a need of the hour to make a collaborative framework between Central and State government institutes to identify skill-based bridge courses in the emerging area of professional/vocational programmes.

Established in April 1988, IGNOU Regional Centre Shillong at present has 21 Learner Support Services covering 10 districts of Meghalaya. This year 1319 learners are being conferred Degrees/ Diplomas/ certificates for this 36th Convocation under the Shillong Regional Centre.

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.