Meghalaya will have its 24th government in 41 years. Political instability is the Achilles heel of this abode of clouds. Perhaps it is a reflection of the nature of its elected representatives whose sole aim of getting elected is to appropriate power by becoming a minister. In the last Government, instability was created by those who wanted the top job of chief minister to be given to a certain person because that person promised them plum portfolios. But even after the chief minister was ordained by the AICC there were elements in the Congress who still wanted to unseat him because they were not satisfied with those portfolios. Even the AICC was nonplussed by this political eccentricity. Later Dr Mukul Sangma proved he was worthy of the post and continued for over 30 months. This time he was unanimously elected to be the chief minister and rightly so. Dr Sangma has shown a rare dynamism which was missing in previous chief ministers. People had lost hope that anyone would be able to lead from the front. Dr Sangma did and articulated a creative agenda for addressing poverty and livelihoods issues. Mukul Sangma’s Government spoke of economic inclusion and several financial institutions were called to brainstorm over how they would be able to roll out a range of financial services for the rural poor and women in particular.
In Garo Hills, after decades of non-action some visible progress has taken place. People have seen this and voted overwhelmingly not just for the Congress but for Dr Mukul Sangma. They want to give him a full term to prove himself. In that sense he has every right to continue so that he can complete whatever he had initiated during his short tenure from April 2010 up to February 2013. The picture in Meghalaya is dismal. There is growing poverty and absence of livelihoods. Entrepreneurship is at a nascent stage. There is also a growing youth population that sees no light at the end of the tunnel. These are huge challenges for any government but not insurmountable provided there are proper policies in place. Indeed Dr Mukul Sangma’s biggest challenge would be to ensure that he crafts out a policy for key sectors like Health, Education, Tourism, Agriculture and Horticulture and ensure that employment is generated in sectors of the economy that use the natural resources of the State. Environmental concerns in the mining areas also need to be addressed in all seriousness. Dr Sangma will have his hands full in the next five years. He needs the cooperation of his cabinet colleagues who should not be pulling in different directions.