Shillong: The Mairang civil sub-division would be upgraded as the 12th district of Meghalaya with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is all set to declare the formation of the new district on Wednesday.
The new district would be known as the Eastern West Khasi Hills district. Mairang is in the West Khasi Hills region and is represented by Assembly Speaker Methbah Lyngdoh, the party President of the United Democratic Party, a key ally in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
Senior bureaucrat Wilfred Nongsiej is set to become the first Deputy Commissioner, while Maxwell Syiem will be the first Superintendent of Police of the Eastern West Khasi Hills district.
Presently, Mairang is a civil sub-division in West Khasi Hills and is sparsely populated. According to the 2011 census the total population of Mairang is 82,437 and is situated about 40 km from the state capital.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said the formation of the district is to bring the administration closer to the people. Meanwhile, there is some controversy over the name of the new district and pointed out that there are four cardinal-intercardinal and eight secondary intercardinal directions, the name Eastern West Khasi hills is erroneous.
“In our geography classes in school, we were taught the four cardinal directions of North, South, East and West. Then we have North East, North West, South East and South West.
But I’m totally foxed with the proposed new district comprising areas of the present Mairang Sub-Division which has been called Eastern West district! Eastern West? Where does this point? So is this towards the East or the West in Meghalaya? Come on, this is one ridiculous name coined, I’m told, by no less than the Meghalaya Cabinet! God save us”, Prof Eugene Thomas stated on his Facebook page.
However, Assembly Speaker, Lyngdoh said since the area is eastern part of West Khasi Hills, the new district was christened Eastern West Khasi Hills.
