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GOVERNMENT OF MEGHALAYA

73RD INDEPENDENCE DAY

SPEECH

SHRI CONRAD K. SANGMA

CHIEF MINISTER OF MEGHALAYA

15th AUGUST, 2019

SHILLONG

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SPEECH OF THE CHIEF MINISTER OF MEGHALAYA

73RD INDEPENDENCE DAY

15TH August, 2019

1. My dear citizens of Meghalaya, I wish you all a very happy 73rd

Independence Day from the bottom of my heart! I take this

opportunity to pay homage to the valiant martyrs and the great

freedom fighters of our country. I also offer my heartfelt tribute to the

father of our nation – Mahatma Gandhi and all the freedom fighters.

On this occasion, I also offer my sincere homage to the patriots of our

State - U Tirot Sing, U Kiang Nangbah and Pa ToganSangma.

2. Meghalaya is a State with bountiful natural and water resources. We

have a rich repository of both floral and faunal diversity. With 76

percent of the State under forest cover, Meghalaya ranks among the

top states in the country in terms of total area under forest cover. Our

communities have always strived to preserve the resources that we

have been blessed with. The large agro-biodiversity of Meghalaya can

help promote agri-horticulture and livestock based economic

development. Further, Tourism and hospitality sectors are key to our

growth. The law and order situation is also by and large peaceful and

provides the right background for pursuing transformational

development.

3. Despite the many advantages, the State also faces several challenges

and natural disasters are one of them. I offer my deepest condolences

to the families of those persons who have lost their lives due to the

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recent floods that caused widespread damage and destruction. I also

share the pain of all those who have suffered injuries and those who

lost their properties during the floods. I would like to express my

gratitude towards all those who have assisted in the flood relief

operations and those who have made generous contributions towards

the Chief Minister’s relief fund.

4. My fellow citizens, the recent verdict of the Hon’ble Supreme Court

lifting the 2014 ban on coal mining is a big victory for the people of

the state. The Hon’ble Court upheld the Government’s contention

that the Indigenous people of Meghalaya have rights over land and

over the extracted mineral. Perhaps for the first time anywhere in the

country, the Government argued for protection of Tribal rights, the

unique culture and identity of the people before the highest court of

the land. This government walked the talk on the issue and I feel a

great sense of satisfaction today. The judgement of the court is

historic and its implications extend beyond the realm of coal mining.

Once tribal identity has been acknowledged by the Hon’ble Supreme

Court, the customs, practices and traditions will remain protected.

5. This judgement will certainly have a positive impact on the economy

of the State and will lead to revival of the coal mining areas. Friends,

the state has about 576 million tonnes of coal deposits and about 9,300

million tonnes of limestone deposits. The value of all mineral

resources of the State is about 180 billion US Dollars. The government

is now putting in place systems for sustainable mining so that the

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present and future generation can reap the benefits of these

important resources.

6. The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) Government’s vision is

to capitalise on all the strengths of the State and to take Meghalaya to

new heights of development and prosperity in the coming years. We

are specifically focussing on Human development, Primary sector

rejuvenation, Infrastructure expansion, Entrepreneurship promotion,

Environmental protection and Governance reform.

7. I will highlight some key focus areas for my Government as we work

towards achieving our development goals. We are placing huge

emphasis on secondary education. In our state, the total number of

students in Secondary schools is 1,04,727 and Higher Secondary

schools is 54,739. However, the number of individuals in the age

bracket of 15-19 years is 4,03,675. This means there is a big gap in the

number of seats available for children to pursue secondary and

higher secondary education. To bridge this gap, the Government is in

the process of setting up Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)

in all blocks of the State. Each of these residential schools will be

constructed at an approximate cost of ₹ 24 crore and will cater to 480

students when fully operational. This initiative will transform the

landscape of secondary education in our State. We already got

sanction for 11 EMRS from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It is

expected that 25 more EMRS will be sanctioned for the State in the

next two years. The government is registering a society to ensure that

the EMRS schools are managed efficiently.

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8. Even in Higher Education, there is a large demand supply gap. The

number of colleges in our State is 71 with an enrolment number of

67,352, while the number of individuals in the age bracket of college

goers is 3,85,878. To deal with this issue we are establishing some

new degree colleges. For instance, two new model degree colleges

have been sanctioned at Patharkhmah, Ribhoi and Rongjeng, East

Garo Hills. However, we also realise that Government alone cannot

cater to this huge need. Hence, we decided to set up nine brown field

community colleges, which will be run by the local communities.

Government will provide a one-time infrastructure grant and the

recurring expenditure. My Government wants to expand the

participation of communities, civil society and the private sector in

the provision of quality education. I encourage and invite the

different actors to participate in this critical endeavour.

9. In the Health Sector, we are all aware that our performance on key

Maternal and Child Health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate and

Maternal Mortality rate is not satisfactory. Our Infant Mortality Rate

is 39 deaths per 1000 livebirths and our Maternal Mortality rate is 197

deaths per 100,000 livebirths. My goal is to reduce these numbers

dramatically in the next 2-3 years. To achieve this, we have

successfully piloted a new initiative that uses real time data on the

pregnant women to monitor their health status on a continuous basis.

Under this data driven model, primary data on pregnant women is

collected by the Medical Officers and Health functionaries through a

mobile app. This data is updated regularly and can be seen in

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Shillong by me and other health officials. Each pregnant woman can

be tracked and on any given day, the number of women due for

delivery can be seen on the Chief Minister’s Dash Board. In South

West Garo Hills District, where this initiative was piloted,

institutional deliveries improved by 30 percent in just 3 months. Now

we are expanding this project to all the districts of the State and to

cover not only health and institutional deliveries, but also the sectors

of Nutrition, Education and Rural Development. I am naming this

initiative Meghalaya’s Outcomes oriented Transformation in Health,

nutrition, Education and Rural development Program or the

MOTHER program. This name signifies the centrality of mothers in

achieving development goals in Health, Nutrition and Education. The

MOTHER program is my Government’s tribute to all the women

(mei’s and magipa’s) of the State.

10. Once the program is launched across the State, all grass root

development functionaries will have the MOTHER app on their

phones. They will collect key data on Health, Nutrition, Education

and Rural Development and the same data will be seen in the CMs

dash board in real time. This micro data will be used to make policies

and to drive transformational development.

11. A second key constraint in health care provision is lack of adequate

infrastructure and human resources. We only have 436 government

doctors in the entire State. Like in the education sector, we need more

private sector and civil society participation to improve this State of

affairs. Currently about 22 health institutions are being managed in a

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PPP mode. The government intends to expand this engagement. In

addition, we are also trying to leverage external resources for

improving the sector. The “Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening

Project” has been recently proposed for World Bank funding.

12. Another crucial aspect in health care is availability of free medicines

at all health facilities. ₹ 66 crore has been allocated in this year for

the procurement of medicines. We are developing an on line system

for collating medicine demand in a bottom-up manner. The online

system will have a dashboard that will enable me and other Health

functionaries to monitor the disbursement of medicines regularly.

We are also constructing warehousing for the storage of medicines in

all the district headquarters and at CHCs with an investment of about

₹ 20 crore.

13. Another key component of Human development strategy is poverty

alleviation. The State government has placed special emphasis on the

effective implementation of poverty alleviation programmes.

Meghalaya is today one of the top implementers of MGNREGS in the

country. We have spent about ₹ 1000 crore on MGNREGS in the last

financial year generating an average of 72 person days of wage

employment for all registered job-card holders in the State. We are

also prioritizing the construction of pucca houses to all eligible

households. In 2018-19, about 4900 houses were constructed at an

expenditure of ₹ 113 crore. This year, the government targets to

construct about 17,200 houses.

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14. Another area which the government is deeply concerned about is

providing timely pension benefits to all eligible beneficiaries. The

Chief Minister’s Social Assistance programme covers 53,573 senior

citizens, 30,284 single mothers and 12,000 persons with disabilities.

We have sanctioned and released, in full, the pending pensions from

the year 2017-18 and those for the year 2018-19 for all the

beneficiaries. Further, for the first time in the history of the state, we

have put in place a system to ensure that pensions are credited to the

bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries in the first week of every

month. This is a significant step towards respecting the dignity of

our senior citizens, single mothers and persons with disabilities.

15. The government is especially concerned about the farmers of the

State. The Cabinet has just approved the renaming of the Department

of Agriculture as the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’

Welfare. We are one of the few States in the country to have set up a

Farmers’ Commission, a mechanism to ensure that all grievances of

the farming community are given due regard and heard. We have

also recently categorized Broom Stick as an Agro-forestry product

and Long Pepper and Bay leaf as agricultural commodities thus

making it more convenient for the farmers to cultivate these crops.

16. Friends, you already know that we have launched a number of

missions to improve the production and productivity in the

horticulture sector. The Missions in the sectors of Lakadong

Turmeric, Jackfruit and Mushroom have now started to bear fruit.

Recently the Market Lead of Amazon, USA, visited the Turmeric

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farms of Shangpung areas and discussed the possibilities for bulk

procurement of turmeric for the US markets. Another San Francisco

based spice company has also expressed desire to source turmeric

directly from the farmers. After the launch of the Jackfruit Mission, a

local company was approached by buyers in Singapore for the supply

of 200 metric tons of raw jackfruit.

17. Friends, in addition to the horticulture-related Missions, we recently

launched two new Missions that have immense potential to bring

higher income to the farmers of the State. The Muga mission will

build on our natural advantage in Muga production and focus on

value addition. We also launched the Aroma Mission in collaboration

with Centre for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CMAP) Lucknow.

Aromatic plants could be a real game changer for our people given

that they can grow even in waste lands. Our immediate goal is to

start with Citronella and Lemon Grass plantations in 55 hectares

covering all the districts of the State. We will also set up small

distillation units that can produce 20-25 kgs of oil.

18. The Meghalaya Milk mission is also being implemented successfully,

with funding support of ₹215 Crore from the National Cooperation

Development Corporation (NCDC). Interesting and novel ideas that

can bring very high value to the farmers are being implemented. For

instance, cattle ranches are being developed in villages like

Mawmerang in South West Khasi Hills. The community in this

village formed a dairy cooperative and earmarked about 200 acres of

land as a ranch for free ranging dairy animals.

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19. This Government realises the immense potential for food processing

industry in our State. Accordingly, we created a new Directorate of

Food Processing under the Department of Agriculture. I am very

happy to announce that Shillong will be hosting one of the biggest

food innovations show in the Eastern region called the “North East

Food Show by Meghalaya and SIAL” in December 2019. The show is

being organized in collaboration with SIAL Paris, the largest food

innovation hub in the world.

20. Another very important area for our State and particularly the youth

is Entrepreneurship Promotion. The basic challenges in building

enterprises in our State are inadequate access to credit, insufficient

access to markets and lack of technological know-how. The

Government has taken up a number of initiatives to solve each of

these problems. We have set up a fund with a corpus of ₹10 crore for

providing small grants and soft loans to aspiring entrepreneurs. We

also have a corpus of about ₹40 crore under the IFAD funded M-

LAMP project for providing market access support for our

entrepreneurs. This money will be provided to individual

entrepreneurs, Self-Help Groups and Cooperative Societies for taking

up projects like value addition, packaging, branding and marketing

of the produce and products of the State. Another important initiative

on market access is launching of the Megha-mart, an online platform

to facilitate the sale and purchase of products sourced from local

entrepreneurs. This online platform is like an Amazon for products

made in Meghalaya by our artisans and entrepreneurs.

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21. We have just launched the Chief Minister’s E- champion Challenge.

This will be the first and critical step to help kickstart the large scale

and long term enterprise incubation strategy of the Government. We

want to select about 50 entrepreneurs from across the State through a

competitive process. The top 25 among them will be given cash prize

of ₹ 1 lakh each and the next 25 will be given a cash prize of ₹ 50

thousand each. We will then provide the selected Enterprise-

Champions (E-Champs) with one year of incubation support to take

their business ideas to the next level. I encourage all the youth of the

State to apply for the E-champion Challenge. The Government has

partnered with IIM Calcutta- Innovation Park, to conduct this

challenge and to provide incubation services for the selected E-

Champs.

22. We are also planning to institutionalise enterprise incubation through

the setting up of large multi-sectoral Incubators at both Shillong and

Tura. Small scale sectoral incubators called Growth Hubs will also be

set up in the different blocks. We have already started the process of

selecting NGOs for managing these Growth Hubs.

23. The State has also recently approved the Start-up policy under which

incentives will be provided to start-ups. This policy along with all the

other enterprise promotion activities will give a huge boost to

innovation in the State and contribute to our goal of making

Meghalaya a Knowledge Economy.

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24. A sector that is very closely connected with Entrepreneurship is

Tourism. Despite the phenomenal potential of Meghalaya as a tourist

destination, the contribution of this sector to the State GDP is less

than 5 percent. We want to promote Meghalaya as a sustainable high-

value tourist destination and to create a unique experience for

national and international Tourists. We are in talks with international

brands like Airbnb for promoting the State in that direction. The

ultimate goal of Meghalaya Tourism is to generate better incomes for

our entrepreneurs and local communities.

25. Village eco-tourism is an area that holds enormous promise for the

State. I recently visited Mawlynnong and interacted with Bah Moral

Stone Khrrymba and other village leaders and the youth there. The

government wants to strongly promote village tourism so that money

goes directly into the rural areas. We have many villages in the State

that have unique selling points. Cases in point are the Jingrwai

Iawbei tradition of Kongthong village in Khatar shnong and the

Hoolock Gibbons of the Nokrek biosphere reserve. The distinct

cultural and bio-diversity richness of our villages can be marketed in

a sustainable way.

26. Another top priority for my government is focus on sustainability.

Meghalaya has a fragile eco-system that needs to be conserved and

protected. Our ecology and environment is our greatest strength.

Realizing this, the government has placed Sustainability and

environmental conservation at the centre of its development efforts.

Under the IFAD funded project M-LAMP (Meghalaya Livelihoods

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and Access to Markets Project), Integrated Natural resource

Management Plans are being made in 1350 villages. Based on these

plans, activities like construction of spring chambers and check dams,

and afforestation related projects are being taken up. In the recent

review mission, the IFAD strongly appreciated the efforts being made

by the State Government toward promoting Natural Resource

Management. A similar initiative is being taken up in 400 villages

under the World Bank Funded Community Led Landscape

Management Project (CLLMP). Based on these projects, Meghalaya is

emerging as a model for the different North Eastern and Hill States of

the country in the area of Natural Resource Management.

27. In addition to externally aided programmes, the State has its own

programmes to promote sustainability through community

participation. We launched the Meghalaya One Citizen One Tree

initiative and encouraged every citizen of the state to plant and take

care of at least one tree. On this year’s World Environment Day, the

5th of June, the citizens of the State planted a total of 1.2 million trees.I

thank every citizen who participated in this project. I also want to

remind everyone that One Citizen One Tree campaign is not just about

planting trees, but also about nurturing the planted trees and

ensuring their survival. Once again participation and active

involvement of all citizens and the civil society is key to our

sustainability efforts. I would encourage all the citizens to take small

but significant steps towards ensuring cleanliness, promoting rain

water harvesting, garbage management and drainage cleaning in

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their respective localities. The Government and the Citizens can

together take Meghalaya on the path to sustainability.

28. Another path breaking initiative of my government is the Meghalaya

Water Policy. We have become the first state in the country to

formulate a State Water Policy. This policy will enable us to better

manage our water resources and ensure long term water security and

equity. One of the goals is to harness the 3000 mm of average annual

rainfall that the State receives. Currently, most of this abundant

resource is washed off. To remedy this scenario, we plan to create a

large network of decentralized water storage infrastructure across the

state in the form of 5000 small multipurpose reservoirs (SMRs) of

varying capacities. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri

Narendra Modiji has appreciated our State for taking this initiative in

his recent mann ki baat program. We are planning to organise a

national conference on water management and policy at Shillong this

year so that other states can learn from our experience and we from

theirs.

29. We all know that Meghalaya has a huge young population- 68

percent of our population is below 29 years of age. Our youth are

immensely talented and several of them have brought laurels to the

State and the country in the recent past. Blessilla A Sangma, a nine-

year-old athlete from Tura, brought laurels by winning gold in the

4th Child Cup and 10th Mini National Fencing Championship held at

Maharashtra recently.

In other sporting disciplines, one of our youths from South West

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Khasi Hills, Tlanding Wahlang, who is also India’s fastest

Ultramarathon runner represented India in Portugal and participated

in the World Trail Championship. Records were broken by a youth

from our State, Winward Sangma by pedaling through the Himalayas

from Nepal. Another of our champions, Phoebe Dale Nongrum

created ripples by being the first Formula 4 racer from Northeast

India. Keeping alive the spirit of music, students of Kiddies Corner

Secondary School won gold and silver in the 8th International Choir

Festival held at Bali this July. Our very own Aroha Choir did us

proud by representing the country and winning the 1st prize in the

Acapella category at a competition in Wales.

In the field of visual arts, a very talented Filmmaker, Dominic M

Sangma, directed the National award-winning film Ma.Ama. I had

the privilege of meeting him recently. In the fashion arena, one of our

girls, Tanvi Raksam Marak emerged as the winner of Mega Miss

Northeast 2019.

30. One of the missions of this government is to empower and skill our

naturally talented youth to realise their full potential. We have set up

a Skill Challenge Fund under the ADB funded Project-‘Supporting

Human Capital Development in Meghalaya’. We are targeting to

train about 50,000 youth by 2020 under the various programs of the

Government.

31. Sports is the ultimate arena for our youth to excel and shine. All of us

know that Meghalaya will be hosting the 39th National games in 2022,

which is the 50th year of our Statehood and the 75th year of India’s

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Independence. Our mission is to use the National Games as a

platform for creating a brand-new sports culture in the State and to

put Meghalaya strongly on the sports map of India.The Government

is committed to hosting a spectacular National game in 2022. Land

has been identified and acquired at Mawdiangdiang in Shillong, at

Dalmagre in Tura and at other venues for the construction of Stadia

and games villages. The process of design of the Stadia and other

infrastructure has started. The proposal for the sanction of about ₹170

crore for building the main stadium at Mawdiangdiang is at an

advanced stage. The Sports department is also in close touch with the

Sports Associations and the process of our State team preparation has

begun.

32. We will be organising the Meghalaya Games in November this year

as we start preparing for the National Games. It is important to note

that the last Meghalaya games were held in 2006 and we will be

reviving them after a period of 13 years. We are also organising the

National Games outreach summit by the end of the year to mobilize

support for our sports men and women from Corporates and other

entities.

33. Friends, now I want to talk about physical infrastructure, which

forms the basis and backbone for driving the development agenda.

We are prioritizing infrastructure creation in all sectors including

roads, bridges, water supply, power, air transport and information

technology. A key initiative in the infrastructure sector is the

Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project, an Externally Aided Project

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being implemented with support from the World Bank. The total

project cost is about ₹.1050 crore, which will be spent over a five-year

period. Under the project, we are prioritising construction and

rehabilitation of Strategic State Highways and Major District Roads,

replacement of semi-permanent timber bridges that are in a

dilapidated condition, improving last mile connectivity through

plastic cell technology roads and building iconic new projects like

passenger ropeways. The feasibility study for ropeways at Shillong

and Tura is underway. Improving urban mobility in our cities, with

particular focus on Shillong, is also one of the project components.

34. The much awaited Shillong-Mawlai bypass will be inaugurated

within a week. The 5.5 kms road will, to some extent, relieve the

traffic pressure in Shillong city. We also want to make Shillong city

more pedestrian friendly and sustainable. Planning is on for building

sky walks, multilevel parking and deployment of e-buses.

35. A significant achievement in the infrastructure sector is the

operationalization of the Umroi airport. Indigo airlines have already

begun its Kolkata-Shillong-Kolkata service with the first flight

landing on July 21. The Government is also exploring direct

connectivity between Shillong and other Indian cities.

36. We are also making all out efforts to improve the Digital

Infrastructure in the State. Work on the construction of the Tech park

is progressing well and we hope to complete it by October 2020. The

National e-Governance conference was held at Shillong last week

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with participation of Information technology partners from both the

Government and Private Sector.

37. Another key infrastructure sector is border infrastructure given our

443 kilometers of International border with Bangladesh. The

approximate value of our exports to Bangladesh is around ₹ 600

Crore and the total imports is around ₹ 30 Crore. There is immense

potential for improvement in trade and tourism related activities with

Bangladesh. Recently the Indian High Commission from Bangladesh

visited the State and had long consultations with us on exploring

opportunities to improve our engagement. I have requested our

Hon’ble PM to take up the 8-Laning of Guwahati -Shillong-Dawki-

Sylhet -Chitagong Highway. This project will enable transportation

and export of materials and minerals from the North Eastern States to

the South East Asian countries through Chittagong port and will

have a transformative impact on the region’s economy.

38. We are also making key investments in the other critical

infrastructure sectors of Power and Drinking water. An amount of ₹

50 crore has been recently sanctioned for the augmentation of the

Mawlai sub-station under the North Eastern Special Infrastructure

Development Scheme (NESIDS). Sanctions have also been obtained

for Implementation of Greater Sohra Water Supply Scheme and

Laying of New Feeder Mains for Tura Phase-I and II Water Supply

Scheme for an amount of ₹ 60 crore under the same program.

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39. Friends, it goes without saying that a lot of investment is needed to

realise our ambitious goals in various sectors. The Fifteenth Finance

Commission, which is responsible for allocating resources to the

States from 2020-25, recently visited our State. We presented our need

for funds very strongly to the Commission and sought grants-in-aid

to the tune of ₹82,815 Crore. A supplementary memorandum was

also submitted highlighting the specific fund requirement for the

National games and for development of Tourism and ropeways. We

are hopeful that the Finance Commission will consider our demands

favourably.

40. In addition to relying on central grants, we are making concerted

efforts to improve our own State revenues. We have just launched a

system for QR-coding and app-based scanning of Challans used by

the Forest and Mineral resources Departments. This system will

prevent duplication of challans and improve the royalty collection on

minerals. We have also started the process for setting up of Integrated

Check gates at few locations in the State and end-to-end

computerization of the revenue collection on minerals. Similar

initiatives have led to substantial increases in revenue collection in

mineral rich States like Chhattisgarh and Orissa. I am hopeful that the

QR-coding of challans and setting up of the integrated check gates

will improve our revenue collection considerably. I would like to

emphasise that this is the first time in the history of the State that

such systematic efforts are being made to improve the State’s own

revenue collection.

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41. A third strategy for mobilization of investments is to apply for

externally aided projects. We already have four major ongoing

projects- IFAD Funded M-LAMP Project, World bank Funded

CLLMP Project, World Bank funded Integrated Transport Project and

the ADB funded Supporting Human Capital in Meghalaya Project.

Three more projects in the sectors of Community Forestry, Farmer’s

Mobilization and Protection of Vulnerable Catchment areas are at an

advanced stage of approval. We have also recently submitted projects

in the sectors of health, power and soil and water conservation. New

and novel projects in the sectors of Tourism, Urban mobility, financial

management and Secondary education are being prepared.

42. My dear citizens, I want to assure all of you that my Government has

a clear vision and strategy to improve the well-being of every section

of the society including our farmers, our youth, our entrepreneurs,

our elderly, our school going children, and our citizens in rural areas.

To achieve the goals and aspirations of the 3 million Meghalayans,

our economy needs to growth more strongly than in the past decade.

Today the size of Meghalaya’s economy is about ₹ 30,000 Crore or 4.2

billion US Dollars. The size of the Indian economy is 2.6 trillion USD

dollars. As the Indian economy expands to become 5 trillion dollars

by 2024-25 under the leadership of our Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra

Moi ji, Meghalaya’s economy also needs to double in the next five

years and at least become 10 billion US dollors. This will mean that

our growth rates should be higher than 10 percent in the next few

years. To make such growth rates possible, investments by both the

Government and Private Sector are necessary. The government will

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make every effort so that the size of the economy expands and that

this expansion will lead to greater well-being of all our citizens.

43. Friends, in conclusion, I encourage each of us to make a commitment

by taking steps to ensure positive and collective impact and build a

state that encourages young people to dream, a state that supports

entrepreneurs to innovate and create, and a state that chooses a

government that keeps aspirations of its people first. Let us not take

our freedom for granted. Let us work towards strengthening each

other because together we can!

44. Happy 73rd Independence Day to each of you!

KHUBLEI !MITELA !! JAI HIND !!!