The Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) has said that they are waiting for the state government to call for a meeting to discuss the issue related to the relocation of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong.

“We are waiting for the government’s call,” HPC secretary Gurjit Singh said.

He however refused to indicate if the committee would submit its reply on the government’s proposal.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong informed that the government would soon fix a meeting with the HPC to further sensitize them on the stand of the government and to also listen to their point of view on the matter.

“We are waiting for the return of the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge urban affairs as we want to convene a meeting with the HPC within this month,” he added.

Tynsong said that he is not aware if the HPC has sent any communication to urban affairs with regards to the reply to the government’s proposal.

On March 16, the state government set a deadline to the HPC for submitting its reply by April 10, with regards to the proposal for relocating of the Sweepers’ Colony from Them Iew Mawlong to the existing land of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).

The government had also turned down the request of the HPC to give another three months’ time to respond to the proposal.

The decision was also taken following an order of the Meghalaya High Court on February 16, asking the state government to immediately resolve the issue after the Assembly elections.

On September 29, last year the state government presented the blueprint to the HPC during a meeting, which indicated its decision to construct multi-storey flats at the existing official quarters of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) for relocation of the 342 families.

The state government had outrightly rejected the April 25,2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.

Staff Reporter

Shillong, April 6: A one-day camp on Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)-2021-22 was held at Maithan Alloys Ltd. today for sensitisation and to enable self-compilation of ASI return through the ASI web portal by the industrial units covered under ASI 201-22.

The camp was jointly organized by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Field Operations Division (FOD), Regional Office, Shillong, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation(MoSPI), Govt of India and Byrnihat Industries Association.

About 30 industrial units around the Brynihat Industries area participated in the camp. NSSO, FOD is responsible for conducting large-scale surveys in diverse fields across the regions. The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) is one of the principal sources of Industrial Statistics in India. It provides statistical information to assess and evaluate, objectively and realistically the changes in growth composition and structure of the organised manufacturing sector comprising activities related to manufacturing processes, repair services, gas and water supply and cold storage etc.

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This survey also provides one of the important inputs for calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. The survey is being conducted annually under the statutory provisions of Collection of Statistics (COS) Act, 2008 (as amended in 2017) and the rules framed there under in 2011.

While addressing the camp, N. Mohondas Singh, Joint Director & Regional Head, NSSO (FOD), RO Shillong stressed the importance of ASI data in the calculation of GDP of the country and appealed all the units for self-compilation and timely submission of the returns. He informed that the defaulting units could be prosecuted as per rules framed under Statistics Act 2008. He further stated that the camp was organised to enable self-compilation and ensure timely submission of returns of the units.

Representing the association, P. K. Mishra, Director, Maithan Alloys Limited thanked the NSSO (FOD) for organising such an important camp and appealed to all the units for timely submission of returns to avoid any legal action against the defaulting units and cooperation may be given to officials visiting the units.

The meeting was also attended by senior officers of NSSO (FOD), RO Shillong.