No initiative was more welcome, and more timely as well, than the one which found the Meghalaya Chief Minister. Mr. W. A. Sangma, in a meaningful round-the-table discussion, recently with the Chief Executive Members of the State’s three autonomous District Councils. We cannot recall any such occasion in the past when such a joint discussion was held in Meghalaya and now that such a move has once been initiated it would be the hope of everyone that such conclaves become a regular periodic routine to sort out problems which are apt to create distrust and disharmony between the State government on the one hand and the District Councils on the other. The estrangement which threatened the relations between the government and at least one Council in the recent past would thus hopefully tend to melt away, whatever the motivation or compulsion for the same.
What is strikingly notable is the candour and unanimity which marked the discussion at the CEMs’ conference. This is all the more remarkable because one of the CEMs represented the ruling party in the State, another the recognised opposition and the third an independent. The mutual understanding apparent, and the help promised, at these discussions is what augurs well for the future. Although with the creation of separate tribal States the original purpose of autonomous Councils has considerably been lessened, the mutual Govt.-Council cooperation and Inter-dependence would seem to appear all the greater if the unique experiment of district autonomy is expected to yield yet some worthwhile results.