The residents of 5 villages have demanded the removal of their respective areas from the Census town while claiming that the inclusion thereof is resulting in denial of developmental schemes which they are entitled to.
This demand was made before the Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi district, R M Kurbah on Friday. In their meeting with the DC, headmen of the Umroi Umïam Area also submitted a memorandum to push forward their demand.
“We the residents of Nongrah Umroi, Jaïawpdeng, Laban Saro, Umroi Madan and Umdohbyrthih are losing out on developmental schemes of the Central government because we are being included with semi urban areas under the Census Town even though our villages are underdeveloped. As such we are losing out on a lot of these developmental schemes,” president of the Synjuk ki Rangbah Shnong Umroi Umïam Area, Sen Thabah said.
He also said that the Synjuk has already written to the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), Titosstarwell Chyne and the Executive Member (EM) concerned, Paul Lyngdoh on the issue.
He also informed that as leaders of these villages, they are well informed of the ground realities, based on which they opine that the said villages can in no way be included under the Census Town. “Because of this, we have lost out on Central schemes such as the Solid Waste Management scheme under the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Jal Jeevan Mission, to name a few,” the secretary of the Synjuk, PB Sylliang added.
He also said that after meeting the KHADC authorities on this issue, they were directed to take this up with the DC. “We are now hoping that our pleas are heard so that our villages may benefit from these schemes,” Sylliang said.
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