Meghalaya improving living standards through better governance: Governor

Shillong, March 8 (IANS) Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy on Friday said that the state's Conrad Sangma government was making concerted efforts to improve the standard of living of the people through better governance.

"The government is particularly focused on enhancing service delivery in the health and education sectors and making larger investments in physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, power and drinking water supply," Roy said in the customary address marking the beginning of the Budget session.

He said another critical focus of the government was improving rural livelihoods and promoting enterprises through mission mode interventions in agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.

However, the Opposition Congress legislators boycotted Roy's maiden address to the State assembly over his call to boycott "everything Kashmiri" following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.

The Governor noted that the state's internal security situation had "significantly improved" over the past one year though it did witness agitations on issues like Inner Line Permit, border dispute with Assam and setting up of entry and exit points.

He added that the administration and the police had effectively dealt with these agitations.

With increasing number of cyber crimes in the state, Roy revealed that the government had also formed a cyber crime wing under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

On the disputed pockets along the Assam-Meghalaya border, Roy said the district and local level administration in both states had actively resolved the problems and defused tricky situations on many occasions.

He told the legislators that the government had initiated steps to improve the overall financial management of the state. The Online Government Receipts Accounting System (e-GRAS) of revenue collection has been developed providing easier and faster services to citizens, he added.

Noting that access to credit and financial inclusion were key to strengthening rural livelihoods, the Governor said that steps were being taken to open and operationalise bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Dhan Yojana and about Rs 101 crore had been sanctioned under MUDRA loan for 14,945 individuals in the past year.