Shillong, Apr 7: An Indigenous Cultural Centre, especially to preserve and promote cultural heritage of indigenous Khasi community, will be set up at Mawkhar in the city, chief minister Conrad K Sangma announced on Monday.
An amount of Rs 15 crore was sanctioned for the Indigenous Cultural Centre and its foundation stone is likely to be laid by next month, he said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of traditional Khasi dance festival, Shad Suk Mynsiem.
Underlining the government’s priority to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of indigenous tribes, he expressed happiness over fulfilling the long-pending demand of Seng Khasi, the organisation that represents the followers of ancient Khasi faith.
Revealing that the initial plan for laying foundation stone was in April itself, he said it was changed “as we all know that April is not a very auspicious month”.
Meanwhile, he said, the government has been supporting or setting up various other cultural centres – from large to small ones.
Sangma also mentioned about announcing Rs 50 lakh for a cultural centre of the Karbis during his recent visit to a Karbi area in Meghalaya-Assam border.
He also explained about the government support given to the minority Rabha, Koch, and Hajong communities.
Urging people from different communities to take initiatives to preserve their culture, he assured to support such endeavours.
He termed the upcoming Indigenous Cultural Centre as a completely new project and said, “We wanted to be very interactive, we want to be very technology based.
Meanwhile, he assured of taking initiative for improving the overall infrastructure at Weiking filed too.
