Where dreams are supposed to take flight, they’ve long been grounded under a collapsing roof. At Nongspung A Garo Government Lower Primary School in Ri Bhoi, hope hasn’t vanished — it’s just been drenched by years of rain leaking through broken tin sheets, confined to crumbling walls that echo with silence instead of songs. For 49 years, this government school has stood as the sole institution serving children from marginalised families in Nongspung A village under the Jirang block — forgotten by the system, but not by the students who still arrive each day, armed with nothing but perseverance. On Thursday, the weight of that neglect met the promise of change as Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma stepped onto the school grounds and witnessed its decay first-hand.
“A very warm maiden visit to Nonspung A village under Jirang to interact with the people and inspect the dilapidated Nongspung A Garo L.P School that has served the community since 1976.
Will sanction through CMSDF in convergence with other schemes to create new infrastructure for the school in a phase wise manner. Today I also distributed a guitar and some footballs to the school children to encourage extra curricular activities for the students,” The CM wrote in his social Media page.
Visibly shaken CM then declared, “This school building is in a very bad condition… Along with the Hon’ble MLA, we have decided to work together and provide them in a phase-wise manner new infrastructure. I promise that.”
Established in 1976 and now home to students from marginalised families with no access to alternatives, the school had become a symbol of both resilience and neglect. With walls drenched by rain and roofs teetering above children’s heads, it stood not as a place of safety, but as a testament to forgotten corners of development.
Moved by the conditions, Sangma announced that funds from the Chief Minister’s Special Development Fund (CMSDF), local MLA contributions, and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) would be pooled to reconstruct the school infrastructure in phases. “Along with my CMSDF scheme, along with whatever support from the MLA as well as from SSA scheme, we’ll try and build up this infrastructure in a phase-wise manner at the earliest,” he assured.
The Chief Minister didn’t just bring promises — he brought music. As part of a gesture to nurture holistic education, Sangma handed over footballs and an acoustic guitar to the students. “I have promised some musical instruments and sports equipment. Some of them I brought along and handed over,” he shared.
He even paused to show a young student how to cradle the guitar, guiding his fingers over the strings. “Was so happy to see one of the youngsters, inspite of not having any access to any instrument he still was able to pick up and play the different keys. It is very encouraging that I hope that I’ll be able to give them more opportunities by providing them better equipment in future,” he said.
The visit was part of the CM’s grassroots outreach campaign, where direct engagement replaces reports and dusty files.
