TURA, Sept 1 - The village of Aminda Rangsagre in Gambegre block of West Garo Hills has won many accolades for cleanliness, art depiction, and self-development. The village was such an influence that late Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, who was also the then local Member of Parliament, wowed by the beauty and efforts of the villagers, promised to help it enter the tourist map of India.
On Sunday, on the occasion of Sangma�s birth anniversary, villagers of Aminda Rangsa sought to remind his son, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, of the unkept promise made to the village by his late father, which the Chief Minister had promised to fulfill. The villagers said this was their third reminder to Conrad, but they have got no response.
During PA Sangma�s visit in 2015, the late leader had promised to make Aminda Rangsagre a model village. He also promised to construct a restaurant-cum-community hall and provide tools and equipment to wood carvers of the village.
The village initially gained fame due to a wood carver�s art work. The village also got the sobriquet of the cleanest village in the area, and a lot of tourists begun to flock in. However, despite the flow of tourists, the lack of amenities, including places to sit and foodstalls among other things has been a sore point.
Reminding the Chief Minister about the promise, the villagers through a memorandum expressed grief at the passing of the late leader, PA Sangma.
�It is a tremendous loss and our bad luck that we lost our leader back then. We are sure he would have fulfilled his commitment. The matter was brought to your knowledge in October 2016 and you promised that the work would be carried out as promised. We are still waiting patiently for those promises to materialise,� said the memo.
Conrad himself had promised a tourism project � Aminda Rangsagre Eco Hub. Another NPP MLA, Thomas A Sangma, in the presence of the Chief Minister, had promised in 2016 to construct an art and culture centre in the village. Both promises are yet to take any shape.
