Ahead of the Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons on Sunday announced projects valued at Rs 70 crore to develop religious and spiritual circuits in the State which, he said, lack infrastructure.
These projects will be completed within a period between six and 18 months. “Places of worship in Meghalaya lack infrastructure. They do not have parking areas and they are not lit. Project consultants were brought here and we decided to sanction these projects,” Alphons told reporters here.
The Ministry has sanctioned Rs 61,38 crore for illumination, landscaping, construction of parking lots and others in 37 Christian churches, and Rs 8.61 crore for similar projects for 11 other religious groups including the indigenous religions of the Khasi Jaintia tribals here. Alphons rejected the view that the funds were allocated to woo voters ahead of the Assembly polls.