July 22, 2004

Shillong, July 22, 2004: To avoid any unforeseen incident like the one that happened in Tamil Nadu and to develop a good education atmosphere in the District and the State as a whole, the Deputy Commissioner, Ri Bhoi District, Nongpoh has requested all heads of the educational institutions in the District right from Primary to Secondary and College level to report the deteriorated condition of their school/college building and as well for those having no electricity to submit a report to him on or before July 27, 2004.

Shillong, July 22, 2004: The office of C& RD, Umling has informed that Block level science and environment fair will be conducted at St. Paul‘s Auditorium, Nongpoh on August 5th and 6th, 2004. The Meghalaya Chief Minister, Dr. D D Lapang will inaugurate the fair in the presence of Deputy Speaker, Mr. P W Muktieh and Meghalaya minister for Taxation, Excise, etc. Mr. J D Rymbai.

It may be mentioned that the fair is being organized by the State Council of Science Technology and Environment (SCSTE) to inculcate and promote scientific understanding and environmental consciousness among the people at the grass root level.

Shillong, July 22, 2004: The Deputy Commissioner (Supply), Ri Bhoi District, Nongpoh has informed that rice under BPL and AAY (against June - July quota) and Annapurna (April, May and June quota) has been released and will be distributed through respective Fair Price Shops at the scale of 35 kg per card per month at the rate of Rs. 3 per kg for BPL and AAY card holders and 10 kg per card per month free of cost for the Annapurna scheme card holders.

Any non supply, overcharging and supply of inferior quality by the fair price shops should be brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner (Supply), Ri Bhoi District.

Shillong, July 22, 2004: The Deputy Commissioner (Supply), Ri Bhoi District has informed that rice for Mid-day meal scheme against May-June, 2004 quota has been released. All entitled schools under the schemes are to collect the Release Order from his office with effect from July 26, 2004 to August 13, 2004 during office hour.

Any non receipt or distribution of inferior quality should be brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner (Supply), Ri Bhoi District.

Shillong, July 22, 2004: The Election Commission of India has ordered for the intensive revision of Electoral Rolls with January 1, 2005 as the qualifying date. This was informed by the Deputy Commissioner (Election), East Khasi Hills District, Shillong.

A person who is an ordinary resident of the area who has attained 18 years of age as on January 1, 2005 is eligible to be enrolled in the Electoral Roll. The house to house enumeration will be conducted from October 5, 2004 to November 19, 2004. All those who have received the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) are required to preserve the cards and to produce during the house to house enumeration as the EPIC serial number will be entered along with the name of the electors.

Shillong, July 22, 2004: The stakeholders workshop on the State Environment Reporting was organized by the Department of Botany, NEHU, Shillong and State Forest Department at the Youth Hostel, Tura on July 21, 2004. This workshop is the second of its kind in the state and its purpose is to assess the environmental degradation and identify the environment issues that concerns Garo Hills, prioritize those issues and give the report accordingly.

The Project Director, State of Environment (SOE) Reporting Prof. R S Tripathi, informed that the Planning Commission, Ministry of Environment and Forest has taken up the project for assessment of environmental situation in Meghalaya and is a participatory project which involves all the line departments and NGOs and said that SOE Reporting was very useful for the policy maker etc. Development Alternative, a Delhi based NGO has been identified as the National Host Institutions for the project, while the State Forest Department and NEHU, Botany Department as State Host Institutions have been entrusted to prepare the State of Environment Report for Meghalaya.

A team of scientists from the National Host Institutions, Development Alternatives, Mrs. Jyotsna Pandey, Mr. Anand Kumar and others, who conducted the workshop gave a brief introduction about the group and its activities and also highlighted the objectives of the workshop. Each state has its own environmental issues and this workshop would help to identify these issues and privatize them, the scientists said, adding that the project would help to facilitate systematic data management on environment, identify new areas of research and provide guidance in framing environmental policies.

Core Committee Member, Dr. S K Barik of NEHU said that the workshop is aimed at wider consultation and to incorporate the perceptions of the participants i.e. Stakeholders on the State of Environment in the region, what their environment concerns are, what should be probable solutions etc. The final meeting would then be organized in Shillong some time later and all the issue collected in the workshop would be incorporated and finalised.

During the workshop, the participants which comprised mainly of the officers of the line department, academicians, and members of various NGOs were made to identify and write down environmental issues concerning Garo Hills. After these issues were classified, it was found that the scarcity of water was a major problem affecting the region, followed by deforestation, soil erosion and jhumming in second place, sustainability of agriculture and lastly, bio-diversity loss.

The Project Director in his summary, said that SOE Reporting is a continuing exercise and needs to be carried out at various intervals because of the significance of inter-generations equity and added that resource base should be maintained and utilised in a proper manner so that they can be preserved for the future generations