Meghalaya’s economy to double in 5 years: Conrad Sangma

Shillong, Aug 15 (IANS) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday said that the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government has clear vision to improve the well-being of every section of the society.

"I want to assure all of you that my government has a clear vision and strategy to improve the well-being of every section of the society including farmers, youth, entrepreneurs, elderly, school-going children, and citizens in rural areas," Sangma said after unfurling the Indian flag and taking the salute at a parade here on the occasion of 73rd Independence Day.

"We are specifically focussing on Human development, Primary sector rejuvenation, Infrastructure expansion, Entrepreneurship promotion, Environmental protection and Governance reform," Sangma said.

In order to achieve the goals and aspirations of the 3 million Meghalayans, the Chief Minister said the state's economy needs to grow more strongly than in the past decade.

Stating that the present size of Meghalaya's economy is about 30,000 Crore or 4.2 billion US dollar, Sangma said that the Indian economy will expand to 5 trillion dollars by 2024-25 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which Meghalaya's economy also needs to double in the next five years and at least become 10 billion US dollars.

"This will mean that our growth rates should be higher than 10 percent in the next few years. To make such growth rates possible, investments by both the Government and Private Sector are necessary." he stated.

The Chief Minister awarded the Meghalaya Police K-9 Unit with the Medal of Honour and Appreciation Certificate for helping law enforcement agencies in detection of explosives, narcotics and crime scene tracking.