Health Minister Dr. Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh reviewed the various ongoing developments in the Health Department on Tuesday.
Aiming to improve the health of citizens in the state, the meeting deliberated upon the progress made in the implementation of various health programs and initiatives.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh also reviewed the functioning of the agriculture departments.
Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh stressed the need for regular evaluation of the performances of the two departments.
She informed that there will be a hundred-day plan in both the departments. She assured, “I will work with the departments and we will constantly find a way out to be in touch with the head of the state because if that intervention which is lacking is not attended to then I think we will have the sense of defeat and we have to get pass this feeling of hopelessness in our service to the public. I will try my best to be there as well to make sure that I am able to do that.”
Lyngdoh also stated that governance is not all about those in government while stressing on the need to give every MLA in the state of Meghalaya equal opportunity to present their versions of what our weaknesses, our challenges and our strength are.
“I would like to see that we work together as a team because Meghalaya will only shine if every individual elected to the House is given that opportunity to express how best we can turn around our system.”
She said that the health and the agriculture sector are two very big departments. “I am also happy to know that we have now segregated few missions whether it is with Agriculture or with the health department. Now we need to make sure that the missions we have embarked on actually materialize and start yielding the necessary results.”
“So I hope that we are able to do justice to all of these. I have also seen that technological interventions are major component both in the health as well as in the agriculture department. They have tried to segregate each of these departments. They have given me the ideas of where are the areas of funding and which are the areas that need to be further improved,” she added.
Lyngdoh said that as a minister she has noticed that if there is anything that needs to work in the state, it has to be a participatory attempt by the government agencies as well as private players and the people and the entire unique system that we have in the state.
“I have made one major observation in the health department. The first thing is that finally we are now at that stage where we believe if health has to be understood we have to first involve grassroot participation. That was good thing I saw where we now are going to be involving the people in implementation of various health schemes in the state of Meghalaya,” she said while asserting that “We will never be able to address the entire problems of infant mortality or maternal mortality rate if we do not have people participating in it.”
She further emphasized the need to evaluate all health schemes being provided to the people and to also be understood by the recipients of such schemes.
“In the health department, we have seen that systems need to be installed. Now we are looking at the last mile approach which is again very good,” she added.
Also stating that agriculture department has its own set of challenges, Lyngdoh said, “We now need to make sure that marketing is at centre stage in agriculture. That having been understood, we need to take it forward.”
“We now understand that organic farming is to be to a larger extent practice in the state of Meghalaya. I have been briefed that we have some challenges there as well because our farmers are not used to kind of an approach.”