ITANAGAR, Jun 25: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said this year’s budget would focus on road communication, education, health and agri-horti sectors.
The DCM said this during a meeting convened by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday with community-based organizations (CBO) as part of a series of pre-budget consultative meetings on the scope of the 2019-20 budget.
The budget is to be tabled in the forthcoming assembly session, scheduled to be held in the first week of July.
Mein, who is also the finance minister, termed the budget preparation “a big exercise,” and expressed appreciation for the CBOs’ interest in helping the government in the exercise.
He, however, suggested doing away with individual-centric schemes, and sought suggestions and interventions by CBOs in implementation schemes and projects.
Meeting representatives of CBOs and women’s organisations for the third time (since 2017), Khandu highlighted the sea change in the suggestions put forward by the members, and stressed on the significance of the role that can be played by the CBOs “in an extremely dynamic and multipolar society like Arunachal Pradesh.”
The chief minister assured the representatives that each and every suggestion submitted by them would be minutely studied and accommodated in the budget, “as far as possible.”
“This practice (of consultative meetings) is a new beginning in the right direction. We will see the results of today after 15-20 years, when we may not be in the position we are in today,” he said.
Also attending the meeting, Home Minister Bamang Felix sought assistance and cooperation from the CBOs in “containing the law and order situation in the state.”
“The police can maintain law and order, but the CBOs can contain law and order,” he said, and informed the members about the Humara Arunachal Abhiyan, soon to be launched by the home department, to create awareness among the people to maintain law and order and community members to contain criminal activities.
“We will focus more on community policing as our government believes that, unless community members are involved, maintaining law and order in an ethnically diverse society like ours is near impossible,” Felix said.
Earlier, the representatives of the Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society called for establishing a state child rights commission, juvenile homes, maternity and child care units, and institutes for special children, while almost all the CBOs called for setting up de-addiction and rehabilitation centres across the state.
All were also unanimous on giving special attention to the education sector, especially the matter of transfer and posting of teachers.
Other issues that were focused on and budgetary help sought for were health, roads (particularly completion of several portions of the TAH), development of Itanagar as a model city, burial/cremation grounds, anti-insurgency operations, multipurpose cultural halls, infrastructure in border areas and newly-created districts, timely distribution of school textbooks, etc.
The CBOs that attended the consultation meeting included the Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum, the Nyishi Elite Society, the Tani Supun Dukun, the Galo Welfare Society, the Adi Baane Kebang, the Sajolang Elite Society, the Aka-Hrusso Elite Society, the Tagin Cultural Society, the Monpa Mimang Tsokpa, the Wancho Cultural Society, the Mishmi Welfare Society, the Tai-Khampti-Singpho Council, the Sherdukpen Employees Association, the Singpho Development Society, and the Yobin Welfare Society. (CMO)
