Sangma urges Cong to concentrate on Meghalaya's development

Shillong, Apr 18 (UNI) The ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government today asked the Congress to concentrate more on development of the state rather than 'poaching' of Legislators to change the government.

''There is a need to have a stable government, I will appeal to the members in the Opposition (Congress) to think more about the development of the state rather than doing politics to change the government, ''Chairman of Meghalaya Planning Board Purno A Sangma said.

Taking part in the Governor's address debate, the former Lok Sabha Speaker said 'poaching' of Legislators needed to be discouraged by political parties to ensure development in the state.

''Our government is the 20th government in a span of 36 years,'' Mr Sangma said, pointing out that the political instability in Meghalaya was the sole reason for lack of development over the years. ''Frequent change of governments has hampered development and all the 60 MLAs must realise that Meghalaya should catch up with the rest of the country in terms of development,'' the seasoned politician said.

''There are lot of expectations of the people as they want governance now and not politics. If Meghalaya has to progress, there should be a responsible Opposition,'' the Planning Board Chairman asserted.

On the vexed influx problem, Mr Sangma, whose party the NCP was supporting the MPA government, said the government would ensure that the demographic structure of Meghalaya was not changed.

Informing the House that the government would adopt a practical method to check influx, Mr Sangma said, '' Registration of births, deaths and marriages of Indian citizens will be made compulsory as per the proposed Bill. Migrant workers should have proper documents, if they want to work in the state. '' ''The proposed Bill will help us identify our own Indian citizens first,'' he said.

He told the Legislators that the Bill is likely to be introduced in the next session.

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