SHILLONG, Aug 30: After the NITI Aayog report on evaluation of districts in the Northeastern region on Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) was published recently, the Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) has pointed out that Meghalaya is staring at a “developmental abyss of hunger, unemployment, poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition”.
In a statement issued here, TUR said that the recently released NITI Aayog report highlights glaring failures in terms of social development, in which Meghalaya is at the bottom in regards to important indicators.
“This report points to a rot in our governance, and as we move towards 50 years of statehood, we as a people should not have stared into extreme hunger, malnutrition, unemployment, food insecurity, increasing poverty of our farmers, clean water and sanitation,” the TUR said. “It is a wakeup call for us as a society that Meghalaya, when it comes to the real bread and butter issues like development and quality of life of the people, where Meghalaya was once better comparatively, now is amongst the worst performing states in India,” it added.
It alleged that unlike other states in India which are “enjoying the fruits of development, in Meghalaya we do not talk about these fundamental issues”.
The TUR has blamed the existence of an industry of patronage amongst representatives like the MLAs and MDCs and the political class, along with the bureaucrats and non-state actors for Meghalaya turning into a “failed state”.
In its report, NITI Aayog has ranked all districts in the Northeastern region (including Sikkim) in terms of their performance in 15 sustainable development goals — No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry and Innovation, Inequality, Sustainable Cities, Environment etc.
“Our best performing district, East Khasi Hills, is 57th in the list and the worst performing districts — South West Khasi Hills, South Garo Hills and North Garo Hills — are 87th, 92nd and 98th in the list. If development was a talent contest, Meghalaya would have been disqualified in the first round itself,” the TUR said.
TUR believes that till there are true democratic and participatory institutions at the grassroots level, Meghalaya is going to be caught into a vicious cycle of poverty, hunger, unemployment and death.
