The Meghalaya CM talks about his humble beginnings and his vision for the state
I started life in a small village, Nongjri, in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya and began working as a road labourer at a very young age as my family was very poor. One day, the pastor of a nearby church said to my mother, “This boy should get a good education.” So he took me to his village, Umroi. There I studied as well as worked with him. I had to interrupt my studies five times due to lack of money. I would earn some money and go back to school.
After education, I served as a schoolteacher for five years. Then I became a typist in the Assam Civil Secretariat and was promoted to lower division assistant and served for 13 years. I worked my way up to sub-inspector of schools and was in that job for 10 years. Then, in 1972, I joined politics to serve the people in a wider way.
In an office job, I found myself handicapped. I couldn’t move freely to help people. So my attendance in office became irregular. I decided that I should not harass my officers and do injustice to my job
The bureaucracy and Ministers are very decent here. Meghalaya is the least corrupt state in the Northeast.
Throughout my life, I have wanted to help the people. In an office job, I found myself handicapped. I couldn’t move freely to help people. So my attendance in office became irregular. I decided that I should not harass my officers and do injustice to my job.
I was elected as an independent MLA from Nongpoh in 1972. I did not belong to any party. Later, Chief Minister WA Sangma roped me into the Congress and appointed me as Minister of State in 1973.
At that time, there were lots of strong parties in the state and people opposed the Congress. But I chose to join it as I admire Mahatma Gandhi and all the leaders who fought for independence. I became Chief Minister of Meghalaya for the first time in 1992. This is the fifth time I have become CM.
I have done lots of good work but I haven’t been able to do much developmental planning. My first duty is to provide employment for youth. I am also giving priority to health and education.
Shillong has become an educational hub. People from other states, even from Bangladesh and the US, come to study in Shillong. Education is a sort of tourism industry. People become permanent tourists because they stay for the duration of their study.
Now we have got a stable government. When there is a coalition government, development is affected. There are 60 members in the Assembly, and 28 are from the Congress. The rest are from the coalition parties. Disputes between tribal communities and the like are issues of the past. Now, we live together peacefully and respect one another.
Now I’m concentrating on development. I have to defuse the agitation by the underground because of lack of employment. When the well educated youth cannot get employment, they join gangsters.
I am also looking at foreign investment. I went to Singapore and said there should be a Singapore-Shilllong link. The same can be done with Bangkok. I went to Mumbai for a film festival. Nine Bollywood stars have accepted my request to be members of the task force to make Meghalaya a film destination. The task force includes people like Shyam Benegal.
We want to have a single window task force agency through which people can invest. This task force is for tourism, for a food park and also for IT. I want to see Meghalaya as the first digitally literate state of India.
Air-India has agreed to have a flight from Delhi to Kolkata, Tura and Shillong. When there is connectivity, tourists and investors will come. Now we have requested the Central government for Guwahati-Bangkok flights with a stop in Shillong.
I attended an Indo-Japan golf tournament and had a meeting. I’ll be involved in the tournament and the Japanese have agreed to come to Shillong to discuss Meghalaya-Japanese collaboration to build up the golf course to international standards. It is one of the best golf courses in the Northeast.
Then, we are setting up the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS). It will be inaugurated shortly. The Central government has responded excellently with the launch of the 7th Indian Institute of Management, called the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, here. We also have the North Eastern Hill University, which runs MA, MSc, MPhil, PhD, and certificate and diploma courses. We have lots of good schools.
Regarding road and transport, much is to be done but we want to have a road connection to Bangladesh. Also, I have approached an airline in South Africa on having a flight from Shillong to Dhaka. We are concentrating on Bangladesh because it is not a very rich country. We can sell or export many things like minerals, limestone and coal. We can produce cement. Lots of new schemes are there and lots of investors are coming up. We are allowing Public-Private Partnership.
The people of Meghalaya are not as poor as some think. If they can afford to go to Delhi, why not elsewhere, like Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore. We have improved a lot in education, increasing the literacy rate to 80-85 per cent. Our budget is Rs 2,100 crore. Out of this, non-Plan budget is almost 50 per cent, that is, 50 per cent for development and 50 per cent for salaries and other expenditure. Besides this, we’ve got lots of Centrally-sponsored schemes worth almost Rs 4,000 crore.
We are very rich in art and culture. Traditional institutes for the tribals must be there and land belonging to tribal communities must be preserved.
Agro and forest-based industries should also come up. We have 20 cement factories. Training of 1000 youths for digitalization is underway, subsidized by the Central government.
Connectivity is our priority. That includes development of national highways. The “look east policies” will go through our state.
Most people in the state speak Hindi and English. Because of this, call centres are opening up here. Due to our quality of treatment, a lot of patients from outside come here. I also want to promote the Food Park. We are farmers by nature, 85 per cent of people in the rural area are farmers. Their products should be exported outside. We are also very developed in sericulture.
The bureaucracy and Ministers are very decent here. Meghalaya is the least corrupt state in the Northeast.
Some companies have offered to develop five-star hotels in Shillong. Some want to construct an international spiritual home here.
I am happy Meghalaya is moving on the right track but a lot remains to be done.
