Nongpoh, October 12: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday laid the foundation stone for the ₹18-crore Patharkhmah Mini Secretariat and inaugurated the new Patharkhmah Government Higher Secondary School building and Patharkhmah Model Degree College, in a move aimed at bringing administration and higher education closer to residents of western Ri-Bhoi.
Addressing a gathering at the Western Ri-Bhoi Football Ground, Sangma reiterated the government’s commitment to decentralised governance. “All the services that you get in DC office in Nongpoh, we aspire to give it right here in Patharkhmah,” the Chief Minister said.
The proposed Mini Secretariat will bring civil and line department offices together on a single campus, enabling residents to access multiple government services without having to travel between different offices. “People should not travel for hours and hours or days for a government service and administration should come closer to the people,” Sangma said, while urging officials to serve citizens with kindness and empathy. He also called upon civil society organisations to participate in the development process.
Highlighting development in Ri-Bhoi, the Chief Minister said the district had witnessed more than ₹1,800 crore worth of infrastructure and development projects over the past seven to eight years, covering roads, schools, healthcare facilities and power distribution systems. “I would like Meghalaya to be a model state in the days to come,” Sangma said, adding that the state should demonstrate to the rest of the country “the kind of work that we can do.”
Meanwhile, the newly inaugurated Patharkhmah Government Higher Secondary School building was completed within 13 months and is expected to strengthen educational infrastructure while addressing concerns over student retention during the transition from Class X to Class XI. The ₹12-crore Patharkhmah Model Degree College, established on May 25, 2022 under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), is the first government degree college in Ri-Bhoi.
Spread across a 10.09-acre campus, the college is affiliated with Captain Williamson Sangma State University and offers undergraduate courses in Arts. It also has separate hostels for boys and girls with 60 seats each.
Earlier, many students from western Ri-Bhoi had to travel to Nongpoh, Shillong or Guwahati to pursue undergraduate studies, adding to the financial burden on their families. With the higher secondary school and degree college located alongside each other, students will now have greater access to education closer to home. “Colleges should not only be in Shillong, Tura or Jowai, our youth who had to travel to Nongpoh for college today have the option to study closer to home and this is a very gratifying moment,” Sangma said.
Minister and Jirang MLA Sosthenes Sohtun, speaking on the occasion, said the establishment of the Patharkhmah Civil Sub-Division had been among the key priorities outlined in the 2018 manifesto and noted that the area had waited for more than 28 years for the development.
Sohtun said the new educational facilities and other development initiatives represented an important milestone for the region. He added that construction of the Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) was progressing rapidly with an allocation of ₹60 crore, which he described as the largest allocation for an EMRS in Ri-Bhoi.
General Administration Department Commissioner and Secretary Cyril V. Diengdoh said the Mini Secretariat reflected the government’s commitment to bringing administrative machinery closer to the region, while Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner Dr Abhishek Saini said the ₹18-crore project would integrate civil and line department offices on a single campus.
Earlier in the day, the newly constructed Jirang Block Integrated Development Complex was inaugurated by Ribansi Jamu, a professional footballer and goalkeeper for the India Women’s National Football Team, in the presence of the Chief Minister and other dignitaries.
The Jirang C&RD Block was established on March 24, 2001 with its headquarters at Patharkhmah. The foundation stone for the new integrated complex was laid on October 27, 2023. The facility provides improved working space for officials and a single point of access for citizens seeking information on government schemes, following up on applications and meeting officials.
The new administrative and educational infrastructure is expected to improve public service delivery and expand educational opportunities in western Ri-Bhoi while bringing key government facilities closer to local communities.
