By Toki Blah
A news headline on Sunday, (ST Aug 24, 2025) headlined “Smart City’ Shillong Smart City’ Still in the making: Public unimpressed” seems to have ignited a spark of interest in the minds of Shillong’s usually, “I couldn’t care less” attitude towards what’s happening to this city. True the ST carried out a tiny sample survey but lets not belittle the effort. At least an endeavour was made to test the waters and the results were far from encouraging. People were not impressed by the progress, though the Smart City Project has been in the offing ever since 2004.
So What’s a Smart City? Rudi Warjri in his article “Shillong City : Partially Smart , Never Really Smart” (ST Aug 26, 2025) had enunciated that the objective of the project was to transform Shillong into a sustainable, liveable, and digitally-enabled urban center, focusing on improving core urban infrastructure like smart roads and transport, ensuring clean water and advanced waste management, fostering tourism with intelligent safety and green spaces, and leveraging the city’s strategic location and cultural heritage to enhance quality of life and economic development. Smart City or not, the above seems quite a rational and sensible desire for every growing metropolis. This sensible desire however depends greatly on the following. (a) A vision, foresight or a-plan-of-action towards such an objective (b) a political will to carry forward such a vision (c) citizens participation and enthusiasm in the implementation of the vision (d) time tested institutions to implement, manage and sustain the vision. So the pertinent question to ask when we discuss Shillong’s welfare and well-being is – do the above four conditions for a 21st century city exist as far as Meghalaya’s capital is concerned? A hard realistic look at ourselves is required. Lets try and see if this is possible.
Meghalaya was created in 1972. Based on more than 53 years of mismanaged governance one is forced to conclude that perhaps aside from the demand for political autonomy as a Hill State, other imperatives of statehood were forgotten or ignored. Social and economic factors for the new state never came under the scanner. Funds was never an issue as we were confident that the doles from Delhi would never cease and would suffice. Governance was an issue we believed would automatically come automatically as we trudged along. The years have proved us wrong and this is never more evident than what happened to the “Scotland of the East”. None of our so called “Hill State Leaders” had a clue about urban governance; nor did they give a hoot. This is reflected from the fact that statehood found us with only the Depatment of Municipal Administration. The threat of political rivalry from smart and slick city based ward commissioners probably caused the Government to discontinue with Ward Commissioner elections from 1973 till till date. The greatest loss of Shillong however is the absence of Civic Representatives and as a consequence the downhill slide ever since of a universally accepted Urban Managing Institution called an Elected Municipal Board.
Then came 1993 with its 74th Amendment and the colossal funding for Urban Infrastructure Development. Something Shillong desperately needed and still needs. We missed that bus and continue to do so because of the absence of elected Municipal Representatives. So much for the 1st condition mentioned at (a) above – a vision, foresight or a-plan-of-action for our beloved city.
In the absence of a vision perhaps ‘Political Will’ could have served its purpose. So do we have the political will towards better urban governance for Shillong? Doubtful! It needed a 1999 Supreme Court directive, after 26 long years, for the first Municipal Elections to be announced. As everyone knows it failed and the reasons are not hard to find. By 1991-92 the MLA schemes were being implemented in full swing. The MLA saw in it the long sought opportunity to win over and influence our fiercely independent and autonomous Dorbar Shnong through distribution of free unaccountable public monies. To say that these political hopes have succeeded beyond expectations is to state the obvious. In the process a deliberate political strategy was also pushed and this was to discourage the Dorbar, as far as possible, to look beyond its respective MLA. If MLA patronage was to continue, dorbars were discouraged to look beyond the help of their respective MLAs. Ward Commissioners and the development funds they might bring in because of Direct Funding was a direct threat to the political fortunes of Assembly aspirants. What better strategy than to make Dorbars oppose Municipal Elections.
The Dorbars through their Rangbah Shnongs swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker. Petty piecemeal, Shnong specific development was introduced. The larger, more complicated task of city infrastructure development such as better roads, improved lighting, advanced public transport systems, parks and playgrounds, improved markets, enhanced 24×7 water supply, cheaper and more accessible public health care and housing for the poor were rejected. So much for political will!
Coming to the third point we ask, “Do Shillong citizens have enthusiasm and the desire to participate for a better metropolis to live in?” The answer, for all practical purposes, is “blowing in the wind.” Unclear, vague, vacillating , indecisive – typical Khasi reaction that stems from lack of education and self confidence! Yes, another nail on the education coffin! I have yet to see people of the city come together to demand for the civic amenities mentioned above. Have youths ever come together to demand playgrounds for themselves? Never, but perhaps they have better stimulating demands in mind. Ever heard of women come together to demand better schooling for their children; better healthcare for themselves; improved and nearby markets for their shopping? Their refrain – “Lehrain phi ioh shah peit khmat,” meaning we can’t come forward lest we are marked. Again lack of leadership and unsure of their rights. So who then speaks for the people of Shillong as a whole? Nobody I am afraid.
The Rangbah Shnongs, are so preoccupied with their own self-importance; their own legal identity crisis (which by the way both the Government and KHADC have refused to endorse); their usual grievance of being recognised only when Govt encounters a crisis , that they hardly have the time nor the energy to speak on behalf of the public of this city. The Dorbars have singularly failed to realize that their real strength as Traditional Village Institutions is by coming together as a united Urban Force. They fail to see that this unity is a dangerous threat to the political shenanigans, acts of corruption, misgovernance and misuse of power by both the Government and the KHADC and the real reason for these vested interests to keep the Dorbars as disunited as possible. The day the 100 Dorbars of Shillong decide to come together for the good of the people of Shillong; the day they decide that Shillong is their home; the day they decide something has to be done, will be the break of a new dawn of hope for all of us. Hope it comes sooner than later.
To conclude we come to the last point – time tested institutions to implement, manage and sustain the vision of a better Shillong. Against all who say ‘No,’ I am of the opinion that yes such institutions do exist. In fact two such institutions. The tragedy is we have refused to empower them to work as they should and in the process allowed a weird, newly discovered monster called ignorant party based politicians, play such a depressing decisive role in our day to day lives. For example I turn to ST Aug 30, 2025 headlines titled “Tenders for Urban infra work violates 6th Schedule” and it speaks about the rant of the Laban MDC who termed such tenders as a ‘violation of the 6th Schedule’. Unprecedented, he claims for Municipal development to take place in 6th Schedule Urban Areas. I really don’t know from where this gentleman picked up his profound knowledge of the Constitution and the 6th Schedule but I can safely say that what he said is just pure unadulterated rubbish!
My point is that the absence of an Elected Municipal Board and the continued disunity of our Urban Dorbars within Municipality jurisdiction to take charge of the civic governance of our city, has left a vacuum for such charlatans and their nonsense. It is my sincere belief that a slight tweak of the existing Meghalaya Municipal Act can easily bring about a close and symbiotic working relationship between Dorbars within Municipal areas and an Elected Municipality. The hope is for some sensible and confident Rangbah Shnong of the area to take a call on the issue and mobilize his other colleagues for the eventuality of such a momentous occasion for Shillong. It will be for the good and betterment of all concerned. It is also hoped that the Urban Affairs Minister takes it upon himself to see that such a relationship comes to pass. It is possible.
