Staff Reporter
Shillong, March 9: Cabinet minister and West Shillong legislator Paul Lyngdoh today referred to the four departments – social welfare, tourism, arts & culture and textile – as a ‘single package’ as that they are all interlinked and are priority areas for him.
The United Democratic Party leader also asserted the need for the MDA government to reiterate the demand for immediate implementation of the inner line permit (ILP) while citing countries like Israel which despite being almost inaccessible yet having a marvellous footfall of tourists.
“All of these departments are priority areas and more importantly they are all interlinked. If you look at tourism it is linked to arts and culture, it is linked to social welfare and again it is interconnected to textiles – so all the four departments are in fact a single package,” the minister told reporters.
Stating that his focus would be to optimize the potential of the state, Lyngdoh said, “Meghalaya is so blessed. We however continue to be poor people inhabiting a rich land. Why can’t we be rich people inhabiting a rich land? Why do we have so many who are underfed, so many who are economically deprived, why? God has given us so much, so let us make the best use of what we have and tourism, every single family in Meghalaya should have more than enough because of one single factor, tourism. Why do we say we are deprived, we are backward, we are underfed, how, why, so that is where I would like to focus my energy on.”
On Meghalaya still lacking in terms of air connectivity and other important infrastructures to boost the tourism industry, Lyngdoh however said, “The basic infrastructure has to be in place. So my focus will be to connect the dots. We just need to connect the dots and you get the answers.”
Disagreeing with those who alleged that ILP would be a big hindrance to tourism in Meghalaya, the tourism minister said that getting a Visa to Israel is ten times more difficult than ILP but yet it draws many tourists.
“I have travelled to Israel. It’s so very difficult for anybody to travel and get inside Israel. It is a major tourism hub and destination. Anybody who tries to get into Israel and when you actually are to attain your visa unto Israel you have to do so much. It is almost inaccessible yet it draws so many tourists you know the footfall is marvellous so getting a visa to Israel would be ten times more difficult than your ILP or any other system you want to have in place. It is so difficult and yet people try their best,” Lyngdoh said while adding “Please do not forget that it is so simple you can’t date a very pretty girl if she is so accessible to everybody, she has to play hard to get.”
The UDP leader further asserted the need to push for the implementation of the ILP and said, “It is crystal clear that the ILP was adopted in the form of the resolution by the state assembly and I think that needs to be reiterated by the House, reiterated by the cabinet and take it forward.”
As social welfare minister, Lyngdoh expressed concern over the menace of drugs in the state.
“That is a major area of concern. Our young people are a source of strength and energy, if you give them the right direction and right path but it is like a river, a river can be tapped to become a source of power like a hydro project or power plant but if the same river is not controlled it can lead to flood and landslides so let us harness that energy and once that energy is harness properly our youths will atomically turn away from drugs,” he said.
On the issue related to sex workers, Lyngdoh said, “Absolutely an area that we need to focus on and where I see again coming back to the point I made earlier that if the focus is right if you pay adequate attention this is an area where we can deal with. It’s fundamental that nobody would like to be involved in that kind of profession or whatever you call it. It is all because of the fact that it is because people are being driven to that particular profession because they need to feed themselves and their families, it is not that they are drawn or attracted to it.”
Lyngdoh said, “There are always lessons to be learned in life and whether you take it as a form of self-praise or whatever but you should realize the fact that this is in fact a cabinet comprising of highly experienced and educated persons and apart from anything else I have always stress on the 3Es – experienced, education and ethics – when you combine the three nothing can go wrong.”