TURA, Nov 9: Rogjeng in East Garo Hills will be the first civil sub-division of the district and the fourth in Garo Hills when Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma lands there on 11th November to inaugurate it.

This new civil sub-division will be the youngest after Chokpot in South Garo Hills and Raksamgre in West Garo Hills. The oldest civil sub-division of Garo Hills is Dadenggre in the west that has been functioning for 40 long years. It was established on August 17, 1982.

The decision to award Rongjeng with a civil sub-division is a long demanded issue and the NPP that rode into power in 2018 assured the people of the region that their demand would be looked into.

It will also be a political masterstroke for chief minister Conrad K Sangma whose party has bagged five out of six seats across the northern and eastern region of Garo Hills, usurping Rongjeng and Williamnagar in the east, Kharkutta, Resubelpara and Bajengdoba in nearby north.

Only Songsak proved costly for the NPP as the then chief minister Mukul Sangma won the seat on a congress party ticket to prevent the NPP from gaining a clean sweep of the entire region.

But it proved to the electorate the powerful grip that the P A Sangma founded party had to prove its stronghold in the region.

Rongjeng consists of the Dambu-Rongjeng community and rural development block with 15 gram sevak circles. It has 189 villages under the block and the total electorate as per the 2011 census is 29,519 voters.

Rongjeng is also the entry point towards the Khasi Hills region and neighbouring Assam.

From Rongjeng once can go directly to Dudhnoi in Assam, or all the way to Shillong by crossing into West Khasi Hills region through which passes the national highway.

The national highway connecting Tura with Shillong, through Nongstoin, passes through Rongjeng town.