3 Khasi hamlets to be project villages

SHILLONG, February 3: The R.S. Lyngdoh Training Centre has adopted three East Khasi Hills hamlets - Syniasa, Umsning and Tanglei - as project villages for the Integrated Rural Development Programme. The three villages, which make up a cluster, are situated about nearly 45 km from the capital city. At a public meeting held at Umsning yesterday, the sordars of the villages welcomed the training centre's team led by director Banteilang R. Lyngdoh Nongbri. They said the villagers, who were poor and illiterate, were in need of assistance. The area had been long neglected by the government, they alleged. Nongbri said the training centre had been engaged in gathering information on the three villages for the past one year. "The people here have really been neglected. Though the villages are only 45 km away from Shillong, the villagers are really downtrodden," Nongbri added. Secretary of the Syniasa village Pulin Myrboh said the villages should have been adopted long ago as they were reeling under poverty. The villages lack basic amenities like electricity, dispensary, drinking water and roads. According to the villagers, transportation was another major problem. Though they were basically farmers, lack of modern agricultural equipment, a market and transport facilities had affected agriculture, they added. The training centre undertakes commendable development work in rural areas of the state. Its workers reside in the villages they work in. Nongbri said the organisation had received a project from the Indo-German Social Service for work in the villages. The centre's role was mostly that of a catalyst, he added. During the past year, the centre conducted seminars and workshops on various issues like health and nutrition, legal aid, and also undertook various government programmes. The organisation, with its headquarters in Smit, also runs a vocational training centre on carpentry. The organisation is a self-sustaining one with revenue coming from proceeds of the workshop-cum-training centre.