Shillong, Feb 1 (IANS) Ram Kripal Yadav, union minister of state for drinking water and sanitation, Sunday visited a village in Meghalaya, interacted with villagers and looked at the condition of toilets and kitchens in a few houses.
Yadav visited the tin-covered house of Saralin Wankhar in Mawphlang Nongrum village in East Khasi Hills, 25 km from state capital Shilling.
He interacted with her and her school-going son.
Yadav was offered kwai (betel nut, betel leaf and lime) which he took. He inspected the kitchen and the toilet at Wankhar's home.
Yadav told IANS he visited the village following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direction that ministers should gain first-hand information about the problems confronting people.
"Your beautiful state need to progress ahead in development and Prime Minister Modi too is serious in ensuring rapid development," he said.
Wankhar said she "did not expect a union minister to step into my house, and spend time with us. No minister in the past made such a visit".
"I told him about our difficulties in the village and he promised that he will make efforts to bring development to our village."
Suktimai Lyngdoh Mawphlang, who waited outside Wankhar's house to interact with Yadav, said: "Not even our legislator makes such visits after winning the assembly election. They come and visit us only during election time to seek votes."
Yadav interacted with other villagers at the community hall where they complained about the non-availability of doctors.
He said he would place the people's grievances before Modi, and this would not be his last visit to the village.
"I will visit your village again, and we will have food together," he said.
Accompanied by government officials, Yadav visited the Mawphlang dam, the main source of water for Shillong and adjoining areas.
He tasted the water pumped from the dam, and remarked that the water was "sweet".
Yadav said the central government has enhanced the financial package, under the Total Sanitation Scheme, for the construction of a toilet and to provide safe drinking water from Rs.3,000 to Rs.12,000.
In the case of money laundering, Mafia Mukhtar was being questioned on Thursday as well. He was t
Why did Pakistan get angry with India in the special meeting held at the UN on Afghanistan?
On Monday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was very active. On Twitter too, he t
Canada: Khalistani supporters threaten to target Hindu temple, Indian-origin MP demands action
Tension is continuously increasing between India and Canada regarding Khalistani supporters and a
The sale of the Green Woods color variant of the premium smartphone brand OnePlus's latest smartp
NRIs launch Programme for Odia Entrepreneurs
Bhubaneswar, Feb 9 (IANS) A group of US-based non-resident Indians (NRIs) have launched an acce
Five fresh cases of swine flu in Kolkata: Official
Kolkata, Feb 14 (IANS) As many as five fresh cases of swi
In Gwalior city of Madhya Pradesh, a car owner got so angry at the action of lifting the car of t
Has there been a ban on picketing and demonstrations on the Parliament premises now? Congress has
I am watching the movie 'A Thursday' in Fatehpur Chaurasi, a town on the banks of an extinct rive
America returned 307 antiquities to India, smuggled after theft
Antiquities Returns: The heritage stolen from India years ago has now returned to the country. Sh