Nongstoin, Oct 15: Pregnant women and sick newborns in West Khasi Hills will no longer have to make the long journey to Shillong for specialist care. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma today formally opened the Maternity and Child Health (MCH) Hospital at Nongstoin, in the presence of Minister Methodius Dkhar and MLAs Gabriel Wahlang and R.G. Momin.
Built at a cost of Rs 31.05 crore, the hospital has an OPD and laboratory complex, an emergency unit, a labour room, an ICU, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and an operation theatre complex. A PSA oxygen generation plant has also been installed at a cost of Rs 0.37 crore. A District Early Intervention Centre has been proposed at the hospital to screen and treat developmental delays and disabilities in children early.
The hospital was chosen as a priority because maternal and infant mortality in West Khasi Hills has been among the highest in the state. Specialist care for high-risk mothers and newborns will now be available at Nongstoin itself.
The Chief Minister said the hospital was a promise made under the CM Connect programme, where citizens had flagged it as a long-pending problem. He described CM Connect as his way of making sure issues from the grassroots reach him and then every department. “I consider it maybe one of the best forms of democracy that we can have,” he said, adding that the Prime Minister and the PMO had asked him to present the programme to the other Chief Ministers of India.
Governance, he said, comes with complaints, pressure and demands. “That is precisely why we are here. We can’t afford to run away from it. We have to face it head-on,” he said.
At the event, the Chief Minister honoured the private landowner who donated the land for the hospital. He also handed over an ambulance donated by IDBI Bank under its CSR programme to the Health Department, which will strengthen referral transport, often the deciding factor in whether a mother with complications reaches hospital in time.
He also laid foundation stones for the Golden Jubilee Garden at Nongstoin, the new DIET building and the Sohpian–Nongstoin road.
Saying that development cannot be limited to Shillong and Tura, the Chief Minister pointed to heavy investment in roads around Nongstoin, totalling Rs 498.31 crore:
Nongstoin–Nongjri road: Rs 383.91 crore, the largest single investment, for upgrading the 35-km Maweit–Nongjri section linking Nongstoin to Ranikor in South West Khasi Hills
Nongstoin–Maweit section under RIDF: Rs 63.01 crore
Sohpian–Nongstoin road: Rs 22.27 crore, foundation laid today
Nongkhlaw–Byrki–Umdohlun road with two bridges under PMGSY-III: Rs 29.12 crore
He directed the PWD and contractors to maintain quality, with proper shoulders, footpaths and drains, and asked the Deputy Commissioner and the MLA to monitor the work and report problems directly to him.
With West Khasi Hills celebrating 50 years, the Chief Minister said the next few years should be a defining period. He called for constituency-wise and district-wise goals with 3-year, 5-year, 10-year and 50-year visions so that young people can connect with them.
Projects worth close to Rs 900 crore have been carried out in West Khasi Hills in the last eight years across sectors, he said, similar to the work in South West Khasi Hills, South Garo Hills and East Jaintia Hills. He cited the Rs 450 crore Sutnga–Saipung road, which has been sanctioned although it was never built since statehood.
He ended with a message for officials and the team. “Don’t take your position for granted. God has given you this opportunity. 10 seconds of your time can change somebody’s life. Be the change you want to see,” he said.
