SHILLONG, Jan 7: The state government will hold a two-day cabinet retreat from January 10-11 at Sohra, the first of its kind in Meghalaya’s history. The retreat will feature Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, his cabinet colleagues and senior government officials.
The objective is to provide a platform to various government departments to highlight their programmes and initiatives, and identify gaps and foster collaborative efforts to achieve the desired goals and objectives.
Chief Secretary Donald P Wahlang said the cabinet retreat will follow a cabinet meeting. He said senior officials of all departments will sit together with the members of the cabinet and give a presentation on their plans and the way forward for 2025.
The Chief Secretary further said the cabinet members will go deep inside towards Nongriat and Laitkynsew on January 11 to meet the members of self-help groups in the rural areas.
He said the Cabinet will resume the meeting with the various departments later in the afternoon at Sohra.
“The overall objective and intention are basically to speak in one language, both from the political and the administration sides to understand what the departments are going to do in this year. We would like to see that there is no misunderstanding and missing gap,” Wahlang said.
Stating that it is basically more of a confidence-building exercise, he said the officers also would like to show what they would like to do for their departments and the ministers will share their overall policy plans.
Asked if the cabinet retreat will be an annual affair, he said if it goes well, they will possibly continue with it.
Meanwhile, Wahlang said they will also discuss the outcome of the Chief Secretaries’ conference held in December. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired it.
