Union minister Dr Virender Kumar reviews implementation of central schemes
Shillong, March 2: The Centre is working with the state government to ease Aadhaar‑related bottlenecks that have affected implementation of various schemes in Meghalaya, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Virender Kumar, who is on a visit to the state, said on Monday.
He acknowledged “inconvenience or difficulties” in Aadhaar linkage still surfacing in parts of Meghalaya even as it has been rolled out across the nation.
“We discussed with the department how to solve this…so implementation can go ahead smoothly in a stipulated timeframe,” he said after chairing a review meeting at Tara Ghar.
The Central schemes aim for uniform rollout and state‑specific snags are taken up for effective solutions, he said.
Admitting Meghalaya lacking in Aadhaar coverage compared to national average, officials said some beneficiaries resist enrollment and others cannot update details because OTPs go to inaccessible SIMs.
Awareness drives and enrollment camps for Aadhaar linkage are ongoing, they said.
Government Adviser Paul Lyngdoh, Deputy Commissioner RM Kurbah and departmental officers attended the review meeting.
Presentations covered PMAY, PMGSY and other programmes in East Khasi Hills.
During his visit, the union minister has been to schools, a childcare institute and an old‑age home to inspect implementation and outreach of various Central schemes.
The trip is part of regular Northeast reviews by Union ministers.
Over 23,000 PMAY houses built in state
Meanwhile, the Union minister informed that 23,624 houses were built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban & Gramin) of over 25,000 sanctioned for Meghalaya.
The beneficiaries have also received power, water and toilets through scheme convergence, he said.
Stating that “PM Awas Yojana is a key pillar of social empowerment,” Kumar said that since 2014, over four PMAY crore have been built across the nation.
“No one should be deprived,” he said, urging saturation of entitlements.
Meanwhile, he noted that LPG connections lag behind and called for work toward 100 percent saturation.
Kumar framed delivery as a “PM Narendra Modi and CM Conrad Sangma joint initiative,” describing a “doubled‑engine Government” and observing that “in several departments I have seen implementation is very good.”
On livelihoods, he referred to Viksit Bharat–GBC Rozgar‑Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) as part of the rural push, saying the Centre’s objective is to translate eligibility into “tangible improvements” through Centre‑state coordination.
