Summary:
All the candidates are making it a point to pledge rapid improvement in infrastructure, especially in the rural areas, if elected to the Lok Sabha. Shillong: At a time when parties are busy making promises to lure voters, people of the rural areas in Meghalaya are yearning for motorable roads, uninterrupted power supply, potable drinking water, healthcare and education.With almost 80 per cent of the people of the state living in the rural areas, candidates contesting the coming Lok Sabha election are devoting quality time in canvassing in these areas. “Though the national highway that passes through our district is good enough, the village roads are in a shambles,” says an elderly person in the Mawkyrwat area of West Khasi Hills. So far, rescuers have been able to retrieve just three bodies. “Our top priority is road communication and we have been saying this to all the candidates and their supporters who are coming to seek our votes,” he adds.The condition of health and education sectors in the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo Hills regions of the state is equally bad with most people in the rural areas having little access to these two basic amenities..