Born on 27th January 1978, Dr. Conrad K. Sangma is the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya. His vision for Meghalaya was shaped extensively by the ideals of his late father in national and state politics. A leader with vision and farsightedness, he embarked on a mission to take Meghalaya forward soon after assuming the office of the Chief Minister in March 2018.
Chief Minister, Government of Meghalaya
A Graduate from Wharton School of Business and Imperial College, University of London, Conrad Sangma’s tryst in active politics began at the age of 28. At the age of 30, he contested from Selsella constituency for the Meghalaya legislative assembly and won the election. In his stint as finance minister of Meghalaya (2008 – 2009), he earned a lot of appreciation. As leader of opposition from 2009 -2013, he made a mark within and outside the assembly with his incisive, daring challenges, fact-laden arguments and ability to connect with both the young and old. In 2015, he ensured victory of his party in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council Election. In the untimely demise of his father in March 2016, the onus to lead the party was bestowed in his shoulder as the National President of the party.
He was elected as the National President of the National People’s Party (NPP) in March 2016, following his father’s demise earlier that year. He represented the prestigious Tura Lok Sabha constituency from 2016-2018 as Member of Parliament. Conrad represents the National People’s Party, the only recognised National Party from Northeast India founded by his father (L) PurnoAgitokSangma.
Starting out his career as a young, aspiring entrepreneur of the region, it is no surprise that entrepreneurship is close to Conrad’s heart. Conrad believes entrepreneurship will not only foster economic growth but also uplift young people and strengthen a sustainable model of employment in Meghalaya without the dependency of government jobs. To ensure accelerated growth and development and to take the State on a fast-track mode, he formulated a structured policy of governance with emphasis on education, health, sports, entrepreneurship and environment. His government introduced several interventions to help entrepreneurs and young people of the State particularly to handhold and support them through mentorship and market linkages to promote and boost their business.
With a vision to transform Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma has initiated innovative programs in the sector of Health, Education, Agriculture, Sports and Tourism. He has envisaged a short and long term development programme for the overall growth and development of the State.
Dubbed as the “People’s Chief Minister”, Conrad Sangma believes in understanding the concerns and issues of the people. In the last three years, he has demonstrated the vision of the State by formulating policies that accommodates the aspirations of the people. Under his dynamic leadership, the State has embarked on various flagship interventions that would take Meghalaya on the path of progress and prosperity. True to his belief in a ‘people first government’, Conrad introduced several initiatives for the welfare of the people including setting up of different infrastructure projects in the State. He also introduced measures to benefit the rural sector by initiating tangible missions like — the Lakadong Turmeric Mission, Piggery Mission, Diary Mission, Aroma Mission, Organic Mission, Api-culture Mission, upgradation of rural health infrastructure and schools, etc. Conrad believes in an accountable and outcome-driven government and in order to ensure efficient delivery and implementation of different centre and state Government schemes, he introduced monthly reviews with DCs of all the districts via videoconferencing. He is also the first Chief Minister in India to have a direct helpline for the public to address their grievances.
Starting out his career as a young, aspiring entrepreneur of the region, it is no surprise that entrepreneurship is close to Conrad’s heart. Conrad believes entrepreneurship will not only foster economic growth but also uplift young people and strengthen a sustainable model of employment in Meghalaya without the dependency of government jobs. His government introduced several interventions to help entrepreneurs and young people of the State particularly to handhold and support them through mentorship and market linkages to promote and boost their business. The ‘Entrepreneur of the Month Award’ introduced in 2018 empowers budding entrepreneurs in the State through financial and publicity support. His government also launched the ‘Chief Minister’s E-Champion Challenge ’in 2019 to invite entrepreneurs to share their ideas and support their vision, making their dream a reality. A special policy on Start-Ups to facilitate financing of viable projects was recently approved by the cabinet, which will be adopted in the state soon.
Another ambitious initiative taken by the government is the ‘Smart Village’ Movement, wherein 100 villages in the State will be adopted for implementation of digital enabled services. He launched the ‘Meghalaya Plastic Challenge’, an initiative that brings the community together to collect plastic wastes to build plastic waste roads in rural Meghalaya, supporting the state’s mission since 2018. Through this mission, the collected plastic waste was also used as an alternate source of fuel in cement plants in the State.
A mechanism to directly reach out to the grassroot administration has been initiated by deputing a Minister to every district once in three months on a rotation basis to review and take stock of the ongoing programmes of the State and Central Government. He introduced the ‘Cabinet on the Move’ where he and his Cabinet of Ministers travel to different districts to review ongoing projects and address public grievances.
Under his leadership, the ‘CM’s Public Grievances Redress Mechanism’ was introduced in January 2019 which is a system that addresses public grievances through WhatsApp. The most recent initiative of his Government is the Meghalaya Outcomes oriented Transformation in Health, nutrition, Education and Rural development (MOTHER) App which is an intervention to reduce infant and maternal mortality rate in Meghalaya
In an endeavor to create an equitable environment and an ecosystem for growth, Conrad Sangma has envisioned a society that provides equal opportunities for different sections of the society. Recently, Conrad K. Sangma approved the reservation of seats for women in grassroot governance through the Village Employment Council (VEC), wherein 50 per cent of the leadership role is reserved. Indeed, this is historic as this will go a long way in demonstrating empowerment of our women folks.
Conrad Sangma has envisioned holistic development of the State with particular focus on the rural areas. He has also envisioned an ambitious mission to take Jowai and Tura, two important towns of the State on the growth trajectory by accelerating development projects through the “Smart Town” initiative of the Government.
He personifies a leader, who is committed to the cause and is ever willing to champion and be the voice of the people.
He was conferred the Honorary Degree ‘Honoris Causa’ by Sharda University, Greater Noida at its 4th Convocation in the presence of Hon’ble Union Education Minister, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal on the 19th of November 2020.
Q: Meghalaya has been riding strides since last few years witnessed by Meghalaya development model under Integrated Basin Development Livelihood programme model, Meghalaya Water Policy 2019 and recently adjudged the 2nd Best Governed small state under Public Affairs Index 2020 under your stewardship. What are your views regarding these successful endeavors?
We have always aspired for a wholesome, sustainable and inclusive development that would enable us in achieving our vision of ‘10 in 10’, wherein we aim for Meghalaya to be among the Top 10 states in terms of Per Capita Income and SDG Goals within the next ten years. In line with the success of the IBDLP Program, the state undertook the M-LAMP and the CLLMP programs under the aegis of the MBDA. These have been funded by IFAD and the World Bank respectively and are aimed at Natural Resource Management, Supply Chain Development, Land-Scape Management, Livelihood Generation and Improving Access to Finance.
We were the first state in India to come up with a State Water Policy to emphasize on activities that would help us preserve, protect and augment the water resources in the state.
Meghalaya being adjudged the 2nd Best Governed small state under Public Affairs Index 2020 was just a recognition and validation of the efforts that everyone has been putting in. We will keep working hard in our endeavor for growth and development across the state.
Q:With ‘vocal for local’, how is Meghalaya steering efforts towards realizing the Prime Minister of India’s dream of AtmaNirbhar Bharat?
Given the limitations of Geography, Connectivity & Resources, attracting private investments and creating jobs have always been a challenge. Taking cognizance of these constraints, the state government has been taking consistent steps to support businesses and entrepreneurs over the last few years.
We have recently launched a program to Support Small Businesses in the state. Programs for those in the Food Processing and the Arts/Crafts Sectors have also been launched. We are also actively working with the banks in the state to improve the ease of accessing credit. The State Piggery Mission has also been launched to make the state self-sufficient in pork production.
We are optimistic that by making the necessary interventions across the key sectors, we will be able to transform our state into ‘AtmaNirbhar Meghalaya’ and contribute towards making India a ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’.
Q: The success of Integrated Basin Development Livelihood programme model has earned global admiration and accolades for its partnership-based and citizen-centric model. Can you highlight recent initiatives under this model?
The learnings and experience from the much appreciated IBDLP program have helped us immensely in the ongoing MLAMP and CLLMP programs wherein we have undertaken programs for Natural Resource Management, Supply Chain Development, Land-Scape Management, Livelihood Generation and Improving Access to Finance.
We have activated the Supply Chain Fund to support Farmers’ Groups and for the creation of Farm Gate Infrastructure. 300 Integrated Village Cooperative Societies have also been set up and have enabled improved access to finance.
We will soon be launching the Community Based Forest Management project under MBDA which is being funded by JICA.
Q:Localization of SDGs must be devoted for focus development of deprived sectors and sections of the society. Do you agree with the statement?
The Sustainable Development Goals were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. These are the successors to the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015).
Taking cognizance of the statement that localization of SDGs must be devoted for focus development of deprived sectors and sections of the society, our state initiated the process in the beginning of 2019. The State SDG framework has been finalized with 16 Goals and 169 Indicators. The Data Collection exercise at Department level has more or less been completed. The next endeavor is to go ahead with the District and Block level data collection on each indicator under the SDGs.
The rationale is to understand the deprived sectors/sections of the society and monitor various parameters at the ground level using real time data and consequently design appropriate interventions.
Q: Sustainability is a new developmental paradigm encompassing socio-economic-environmental pillars. Can you brief about interventions taken by the Government of Meghalaya taken to ensure inclusive growth and sustainable development, especially in the post COVID-19 world?
Being a mountain-state with over 75% of the state being covered with forests, sustainability encompassing the trinity of socio-economic-environmental pillars has been the way forward for Meghalaya. We take every effort to harmonize our schemes and programs to protect and preserve our ecology.
Despite all the disruptions that were caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, it has also given us the opportunity to rethink and realign our growth strategy. Inclusive Growth is the pivot for achieving our vision of ‘10 in 10’ stated earlier. And we have been making interventions across all sectors – agriculture, small business, food processing, arts & crafts, youth, livestock etc. to ensure that our growth path is as equitable as possible.
