The Meghalaya government has decided to set up mini secretariats in all the districts in the state. For the start, two oldest districts in Meghalaya, Jowai and Tura will get these facilities first.
The plan of the government is to improve the delivery mechanism by bringing important departments under one roof.
“We have decided that mini secretariats will be constructed in all the eleven districts starting with Jowai and Tura, which are the two oldest district headquarters of the state,” said the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong while speaking with reporters.
Stating that the objective is to improve the administrative control of the government, he said, “We wanted to house all the departments located in the respective district in one building where the public can have easy accessibility and complete their works in one roof.”
The announcement also came in the wake of strong opposition against the government’s decision to shift the Public Works Department (PWD) North Division from Jowai town to Shangpung Village in West Jaintia Hills.
Tynsong however maintained that there is no politics involved in the decision to shift the PWD office to Shangpung and said, “We only want to bring administration closer to the people”. He also informed that a representation from the Synjuk ki Waheh Shnong of Jowai had also expressed displeasure of shifting the office from Jowai to Shangpung.
“But as you all know the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Jowai has no proper parking space and that people who have to go to the office also have to cross the congested Iawmusiang, which is the biggest market in Jaintia Hills. Therefore, we have decided to shift the Deputy Commissioner’s office to the premises of the PWD in order to convert it into a mini secretariat,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the design and detailed project reports (DPRs) are being prepared and the process of handing over the land to the respective Deputy Commissioners is on.
“Because of financial constraints, we will start with these two districts,” he said while adding that the decision of the government is justified in view of the fact that most of the government offices are functioning from private buildings on rented basis.
NNN