Conrad Sangma the 40 year old son of late PA Sangma will be stepping into his father’s shoes after three decades. The elder Sangma became Meghalaya’s CM in 1988 but only for a brief period as the State’s treacherous coalition politics got the better of him. There are huge expectations from the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government sworn in on Tuesday with 11 ministers. People have started sharing their expectations from this Government on social media, foremost among which is the NIA investigation into the death of NCP candidate Jonathone Sangma and his associates which the National Peoples’ party (NPP) had promised in the run up to the election. Large sections of the public also want a proper probe into the mysterious death of Sohan Shira; the GNLA Chief which they believe is linked to Jonathone Sangma’s death
There are many issues and unfinished projects that were left unattended by the previous government which would need to be put on the fact track but this would require substantial resources and effective implementation. In the absence of an efficient, independent monitoring and evaluation mechanism it is only to be expected that implementation will suffer. The Government’s Planning Board has become an archaic body which should be dismantled along the lines of the Planning Commission. What is required is a NITI Aayog kind of body with experts from various fields that can guide the government. It is pointless stuffing such bodies with politicians most of whom have neither the interest nor the inclination to involve themselves in in-depth research into issues that have defied solution. Policy making is integral to development. A Policy gives the Government the road map for it to pursue certain avowed goals. A Policy also gives the voters a yardstick with which to measure government success or failure. Several critical areas of governance in the State have functioned without a Policy but in a template of ad-hocism. This is what has left Meghalaya in the lurch as far as governance is concerned. This needs urgent correction!
