A ₹13 crore special package for the development of tourism infrastructure and amenities at Nongkhnum Island in West Khasi Hills was announced by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Monday. Nongkhnum is known as the second largest river island in Asia after Majuli in Assam.
The CM had visited the place with the District Administration officials. He was in Nongstoin where he interacted with Producer Groups (PGs) under Farmer's Collectivization for Upscaling of Production and Marketing Systems (FOCUS) – an initiative from the Meghalaya government.
The CM said while interacting with the farmers that the government had plans for ₹200 crores for farmers' welfare programs in the state. He said that the government was keen to understand the problems and come up with solutions to ensure the maximum benefit of farmers.
"He said, "FOCUS is an innovative welfare program, whereby the Government ensures that the farmers are able to enhance their productivity as well as avail benefit of credit linkages and strengthen access to markets".
While on the topic, the CM also assured the people that the government was working on improving the road connectivity in the district while adding that the Greater Nongstein Water Supply Scheme was also nearing completion.
The Meghalaya Basin Management Authority (MBMA) identifies groups of marketable produce, focuses on Value Chain Analysis of the produce. It forms small collectives in the bottom-up approach, known as Producer Groups (PGs), Service Producers (SPs), and large collectives of Cooperative Societies and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) by bringing together good functioning PGs.
The formation of PGs in the West Khasi Hills district was started in March 2021 in Mawshynrut Block and subsequently from July 2021 onwards in Nongstein Block. There are a total of 183 such groups now. The products for value chain development are ginger, seasonal vegetables, broom grass, sericulture, and areca nuts.
The Meghalaya CM along with local MLA Macmillan Byrsat handed cheques to a total of 36 PGs under the FOCUS Program, amounting to ₹21,95,000. While on the visit, the CM also inspected the Nongstein – Wahkaji and Nongstein – Nongkhnum road.
