Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh has sought a report on non-functional health care centres across the state.

This was after a delegation of the Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organization (HITO) Ri Bhoi District and Dorbar Shnong of Parila village has sought her intervention to make functional the MCH hospital at the village by appointing manpower for the interest of the people of the area.

After the meeting, Lyngdoh told reporters that she will be conducting an inspection to this important health facility at Parila on May 8.

Congress MLA Celestine Lyngdoh and Nongpoh MLA Mayralborn Syiem, who is the adviser in the health department, will also be present during the inspection.

“I hope I will be able to attend to the important facility that has been used as a Covid centre and used as a quarantine centre. So we will go and we will see and until that time I hope I will do all my homework before May 8,” she said.

The minister informed that there was some issue related to staff and said, “I don’t know whether posts have been created and sanctioned or interviews have been conducted. We will have to look at the HR allocation but with the NHM in place, I am sure we will be able to run it adequately so let us wait and see what information I gather before the actual inspection.”

When asked, Lyngdoh said she will send a team of officials to inspect across the state and submit a report on non-functional health centres.

“I will take that report sometime in the first week of May and accordingly we will try to address the shortfalls and accordingly we will try to ensure that we upgrade or make all such facilities operational and it is a humongous task as I have to go across the state to check these centres,” she said while adding that “So we will begin with Parila and we will see where we go next and I am determined to make difference and I will try my best. We must make sure that if facilities have been raised they should be operational.”

On the other hand, the minister maintained that she will ensure there is no politics in this sector and said, “…at the end of the day the health facilities of the state must conform to certain standards and I am a very willing minister to ensure there is no politics in this sector at least.”

Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh today said that the state government is committed to declaring Khyndailad a pedestrian zone.

“Our commitment will be to have at least one pedestrian zone immediately and that is Khyndailad. I also had a meeting with the Chief Minister and he is fully in line with the need to declare Khyndailad as a pedestrian zone,” Lyngdoh told reporters.

He said some access to local residents which will be on the basis of car passes will be issued but the entire area will be pedestrianized.

He said that the people who suffered most in Shillong are pedestrians as you have hawkers, you have motorists using every way and there is limited scope for people to walk around.

The minister further informed that they have already started declaration of parts of Shillong as no-honking zones.

“We are in the process. The district administration and the police are in constant touch and from the tourism department, we already started by declaring Orchid, Umiam as a no-honking zone and similarly, other units of the tourism department will also be declared as no honking zones because the USP of Meghalaya is the serenity, the quiet which is disturbed by loud honking and loud music which sometimes carries beyond permissible hours,” he added.

The state government has decided to complete the recruitment process to address the shortage of manpower in the police department within this year.

Informing this after chairing a meeting at the police headquarters, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong said there is not less than 3500 to 4000 shortage of manpower in the police department.

“Today, we have taken a decision right now I think we are all aware we do have the drive for appointment of different categories of police in the state of Meghalaya about 1000 plus and the personal interview is still on and it will be over in another 2-3 weeks then they will be appointed and again the next session of recruitment drive will immediately take place and we also wanted to complete the whole process of recruitment drive within this year itself,” Tynsong said.

“Once the filling up of vacancies is done I am very sure we will be able at least to overcome one of the biggest challenges that we have not only at the SP level but upto the outpost level, we have so much shortage of manpower,” he added.

According to him, the government will try its best to ensure better policing and boost the morale of the police besides maintaining the law and order in the state of Meghalaya.

Asserting the need to increase the manpower of the police department, Tynsong sad, “The police department is the biggest organization as far as government department is concerned, we have not less than 16,000 forces and now we need to increase that also and we discuss about how to create new sanctions.”

“In other states, I am telling you they have 35,000 – 40,000 manpower. Like in Manipur, they have a manpower of 26,000 whereas here we have only 16,000. Therefore, we wanted to increase the total strength of police personnel in Meghalaya,” he added.

On the infrastructure aspect, the deputy chief minister said that the Director General of Police (DGP) has been asked to send all the requirements pertaining to the issue where quite a number of police stations and SP offices do not have their own buildings.

“Of course we cannot do it in one go but in phase wise and I will try my best to get maximum sanction (for construction of) SP offices, quarters of the SP and police officers and then come down to the police stations, where some are still functioning from rented houses. We wanted to make sure we have our own buildings and offices,” he said.

Tynsong also said that the government would also construct good barracks at the police outposts including the 7 newly created outposts along the Meghalaya-Assam border.

“As far as those newly created outposts immediately we are going to construct the barrack for the functioning of these outposts in all the 7 outposts and we will also increase the manpower there,” he added.

He further informed, “I had requested DGP to prioritize it one by one as we can’t give sanction in one go but in priority basis. We will do it according to the recommendation to be made by the DGP.”

Meanwhile, Tynsong said that the meeting also discussed the functioning of the forensic laboratory in the state.

“Of course few more instruments that we need to requisition immediately and of course we do have little shortage of manpower that has also been discussed. We wanted to attend to this. See like DNA test we need to promptly get the report as you know it well when you talk about the conviction rate it is very low in absence of this test. I have requested the DG to again bring all the details to the department and we will accordingly positively respond to the requirement which is to be submitted by the office of the DGP,” he added.

Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong today said the government will soon advertise another 1500 posts for recruitment in the police department.

“We are going to again advertise for another 1500 manpower which is required in the police department alone,” Tynsong told reporters.

He said the process of recruitment will start very soon and the government will ensure that such vacancies are filled up within this year itself.

Earlier, Tynsong informed that the personal interview for over 1000 plus vacant posts will be held within the next 3-4 days.