By Napoleon S Mawphniang
I write this article in my personal capacity as an advocate and RTI activist, having navigated a bureaucratic system that often leads to delays or diversions, and am basing my claims on facts and information obtained from many government entities through detailed RTI requests. Meghalayan students and children with disabilities or special educational needs (SEN) and children with special needs (CWSN) have long been a source of concern for the state’s administration, and this concern has only grown. Based on past experiences and comparisons, this research identifies government weaknesses and proposes remedies.
Our SEN and CWSN students are in a situation similar to that of King Trishanku from the old Indian folklore, who was imprisoned between heaven and earth. They are stuck between policy statements and the reality on the ground. The stated frameworks of the Government of Meghalaya guarantee inclusivity, but the real finances, stakeholder testimonies, and chronic shortages tell a completely different narrative.
DISE Enrolment – A Catch-22 situation
The District Information System for Education tracked enrolment, dropouts, and educational benefits. My research shows that many SEN and CWSN aren’t on DISE, thus programs that could help them can’t discover them. A powerful administration like Emperor Ashoka’s empire should find and foster such infants early on. This yields a recursive pattern: Some SEN and CWSN never appear in official records, but those that do often face bureaucratic hoops that prevent them from receiving the promised support.
In contrast, Meghalaya’s insufficient DISE enrolment encourages resource duplication and starvation for the most vulnerable. Full enrolment is required for SEN and CWSN improvement programs.
Underfunded transport & escort allowances
Several government circulars were released between 2015 and 2025 to clarify who can get transport or escort allowances, especially for people with mobility challenges or severe disabilities. These communications’ sanitised distribution quantities are woefully inadequate. This budget can’t cover the rising costs in wheelchair-accessible vehicles and school transport in Meghalaya’s tough terrain.Ironically, this is similar to British India’s salt tax controversy. Even though the British allowed a paltry amount, communities incurred a disproportionate expense for hauling salt. SEN and CWSN families are saddled with unacknowledged commitments, just as Meghalaya’s official ‘allowances’ fall short of real-world costs. This was more than a mistake. It is a grave irresponsibility to not evaluate or increase these tariffs annually to reflect inflation or transit costs.
Progressive frameworks include states like Kerala, which have significant scholarship programs and encourage bigger allowances for disabled children. Their strategy is more in line with needs, but not perfect. Due to Meghalaya’s stagnant rates, indigenous parents are struggling to make ends meet.
Is World Disabled Day a ritual?
Annual government financing for World Disabled Day is poor. Lack of attention to empowering the disabled people is evident, with a deficit of Rs 6,000 per district or Rs 1,500 per block. Government documents from 2015 to 2025 repeat these figures without change.
On a day for inclusivity, creativity, and genuine support, children are reminded of their limited resources. Budget constraints limit events to symbolic gatherings with few SEN and CWSN. Previously, the Gupta court lavishly funded scholarship, capturing the national imagination through knowledge, success, and community welfare events. Meghalaya’s lacklustre World Disabled Day commemoration shows its superficial policies.
Participation Selection: Financial limits on festivities
In addition to World Disabled Day limits, 2019–2024 government laws stated that only a few SEN and CWSN could be feted due to budget issues. Due to budget limits, World Disabled Day is exclusive, which contradicts India’s communal celebrations of Diwali and Eid.
A day to recognise all students with impairments inexplicably excludes many disabled people who want to participate or display their abilities. A few receive government recognition, but most stay home due to low or no transit allowances. Basically its a token gesture.
Evaluation Centres – Machines, Not Medical Care
An average of Rs 5,000 per Block for an “assessment camp” (to be repeated in March 2025) was announced in early 2024 through sanctioned communications. These events usually prioritise hearing aids, crutches, and wheelchairs above a complete health evaluation. Children who need expert medical diagnosis or are visually handicapped are often disregarded. Regional statistics from 2021 show that neurological, cognitive, and psychological issues are neither minor or negligible, but these camps ignore them.
The southern Indian Chola dynasty had a multifaceted approach to healthcare, education, and municipal management. Modern medical evaluations must include direct aid delivery. Meghalaya’s administration is painting a broken cart without replacing its wheels. A child who could benefit from cognitive treatment or a neurological evaluation is ignored.
Exclusion for DISE non-enrolment
Government regulations repeatedly emphasise the importance of properly enrolling participants of state or centrally supported projects in DISE. Thus, many children who have not yet joined DISE are ineligible for allowances, equipment, or official help. This illustrates an administrative dilemma: It is usual to add people to the waiting list after they have shown up for help.
When families don’t comprehend these subtleties, kids’ educational futures are at risk, especially in rural Meghalaya. Some parents tried to enlist their children in DISE data, but their attempts were denied owing to arbitrary deadlines, according to RTI reports. Losing early intervention services for a child is the worst outcome.
Delaying Special Educator Regularisation
This failure is even more apparent in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict in Rajneesh Kumar Pandey & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors. (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 132/2016 & 876/2017), which stressed the right of special needs children to stable and competent special educators. The Meghalaya government has ignored multiple letters and demands for special educators. Many long-term state special educators are still on contract, without benefits or credit. They have not received an honorarium raise in nearly nine years, demotivated and financially unstable. This is even more puzzling since the state employs only seventeen special educators.
This reminds me of how some royal kingdoms treated their skilled artisans, who were honoured by the court but never improved their living conditions. State policy that doesn’t identify special educators as normal employees hinders information transfer and inhibits SEN and CWSN from receiving constant professional help. Any inclusive education system should value special educators, not commodities.
The Meghalaya government appears compassionate but engages in Machiavellian oversight, making grandiose promises while ignoring key facts, approving of insufficient funding, and leaving stakeholders confused until deficits become the norm.
Final scene
If excellent words and symbolic investment were enough, Meghalaya would demonstrate inclusive education. However, the framework seems unstable, like a play in a grand palace with wobbly scaffolding. From 2015 to 2025, narratives feature missed opportunities, disregarded demands, inadequate money, and a superficial policy climate. Hence a purposeful policy requires more than a few symbolic events.
1. To ensure no child is left behind, political leaders must integrate DISE with local outreach to enrol all SEN and CWSN. Field staff help families through the procedure.
2. The market pricing of transport and escort services must be used to adjust fund allocation quickly.
3. To promote true inclusion, World Disabled Day needs more financing.
4. Assess More Than Appliances at Assessment Camps: Include medical care for children’s neuro-cognitive, psychological, and holistic needs.
5. The elementary school’s district mission coordinator and secondary school’s DSEO cum DPC must collaborate on SEN and CWSN to improve interdepartmental collaboration. This requires removing administrative hurdles.
6. Special Educator Celebration: According to the Supreme Court’s Writ Petition (C) No. 132/2016 & 876/2017, recognise, compensate, and retain exceptional educators who have worked for years.
7. Keep Following Up: Hold local officials accountable for infractions, disclose audit results annually, and audit annually.
The sage Kautilya of ancient Indian literature said a ruler’s legitimacy is based on welfare. Every child, regardless of aptitude, is part of the state’s moral covenant, and inclusive education requires this. The many delays, which may have been caused by a lack of finance, sloppy record-keeping, or a refusal to regularise key educators, violate that commitment. If Meghalaya is to progress, the administration must stop making hollow promises and start making actual changes based on evidence. Legitimate improvements now can illuminate the future for many special education and cognitively impaired pupils, like a single bulb can illuminate a big room. We cannot spend another ten years of empty rhetoric. Justice and the morality of our state require immediate action.
(The writer is Advocate , Trade Unionist, Ethicist & The Humanist Architect)