SHILLONG, July 20: Soon after Meghalaya, which aspires to become a $10 billion economy by 2028, was named India’s poorest state after Bihar by the Niti Aayog, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday promised a huge improvement in the ranks in the next five years.
Reacting to the second-poorest state tag, he said there is a need to realise that Meghalaya faces several challenges and the government had focused on addressing these challenges in the last five years.
“It is not easy as we had been lagging behind for the first 45 years. We tried to change things in the last five years. We made significant changes which the Centre has appreciated,” he said.
“It is only by accepting we can take things forward that we can make a difference,” he added.
Sangma said the state government will look into the Niti Aayog report in detail and address the factors considered while ranking the states.
He also disclosed that the government will come up with a comprehensive economic policy that will focus on goals and targets for the next five years. He said the draft economic policy will be shared with the public very soon.
According to him, it will be an important game-changer in terms of overall economic development and prosperity of the state.
Stressing that the next five years is going to be a defining moment for the state, Sangma said the government had in fact got plans even in the last five years but it could not be executed due to Covid-19 and other challenges in the form of resources or manpower.
Recalling the vaccination exercise in which Meghalaya ranked 27, the Chief Minister said that the state is now in the second position. The state has also brought the maternal mortality rate down by 45-50%, he claimed.
“It is a procedure and things do take time. We face financial and systematic challenges which we are trying to change slowly and steadily,” he said.
Sangma also maintained that the state is spending much more now in terms of budget provisions. There was a time when the state was spending Rs 9,000 crore but it is spending more than Rs 17,000 crore today, he said.
Underlining the need to give attention to the villages, the CM said it was the reason the government came out with FOCUS and FOCUS+ programmes apart from other missions directly impacting the economy of the farmers.
“Will it yield immediate results? No. But I am sure in the next five years there will be a huge improvement in the numbers,” he said.
