SHILLONG, Jan 25 - Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today flagged off a cultural carnival which will culminate with the Republic Day celebrations.
Flagging off the carnival at the Fire Brigade Field here, Sangma said, �The Government felt it would be appropriate to connect the Meghalaya Day and the Republic Day by having a series of programmes that will bring out patriotism and a strong feeling of being a Meghalayan.�
He hoped that the event would get bigger with more participation in the years to come.
A number of institutions participated in the carnival displaying the culture and traditions of the State and the region as a whole.
Meanwhile, in a separate programme, the Chief Minister took part in an interactive session with the Chief Minister�s Civil Services Fellows.
The session was attended by more than 150 IAS aspirants who have been sponsored by the State Government for UPSC coaching.
During his interaction with the students, Sangma said that it was his father�s dream to see more representation from Meghalaya in the civil services.
He also stressed the need to reach out to the remotest areas of Meghalaya to identify needy and deserving candidates who could be assets to the nation.
Sangma said the training would help the civil services aspirants in gaining knowledge and improving their personality and skills.
The civil services training programme has given an opportunity to more than 200 talented, needy and deserving IAS aspirants of the State during the past two years to undergo training at the two authorised ALS learning centres in Shillong and Tura.
The Chief Minister hoped that through this initiative, the State would be able to produce more IAS officers.
