Shillong, September 10: Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma on Thursday said construction of the new Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang is progressing steadily and is expected to be ready for inauguration by mid-November.
Sangma said his recent visit to the construction site was a personal inspection ahead of his 10-day Commonwealth Parliamentary tour and not an official review meeting. “It was not a review meeting. I went for a personal visit to get first-hand knowledge of the progress since I will be away for over 10 days. I am quite satisfied. Things are moving forward,” he told reporters.
The Speaker said the official deadline for completion of the building has been fixed for October 31. “We have given October 31 as the timeline. We hope it will be ready by mid-November for inauguration,” he said.
On funding for the second phase of the project, which includes infrastructure, information and communication technology and security components, Sangma said changes in the Ministry of DoNER’s funding guidelines had affected the sanction process. “The DoNER Minister could not sanction the second phase due to a change in format and guidelines. They suggested that we route the proposal through the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office for guidance on the appropriate department,” he said.
Sangma also acknowledged that the project cost has increased due to the inclusion of additional IT, communication and security systems that were not part of the earlier detailed project report.
Asked whether the latest timeline would be the final deadline, the Speaker said there would be no further extension. “Yes, this is the last deadline we are giving them. We are trying our best to finish within this calendar year,” Sangma said.
