Pessimism and gloom marred the last few days of the outgoing year 2025 with news of the death of Anjel Chakma an MBA student in Dehra Dun in what is purportedly a racist crime committed by a group of hotheads. While the demand for justice in this case must not lag with time, civil society too has a major role to play in pushing the state and central government to deliver justice in this and other similar cases without being pushed to the wall. This is an important collective New Year resolution. New Year marks the beginning of a fresh chapter, symbolizing hope, renewal, and new opportunities. But beyond the celebrations citizens should stop to think why governments repeatedly falter and renege on their electoral promises. Shillong recently went without water for over a week because the Department whose sole responsibility is to supply water, did not have an emergency response system in place. Will this be put in place in the New Year or will the events of the last year pass without any lessons learnt?
The Meghalaya Government has made many tall claims about reaching out to the underserved with a range of welfare schemes. But these are not good enough. The Government needs to engage an independent agency to study the root causes of systemic poverty in the state. Much of this poverty is hidden and beyond the sight and attention of government departments entrusted to reach out to the last mile. This is Meghalaya’s persistent problem – government has not reached the last person in the village. The central government has doled out freebies generously but whether these actually reach the targeted stakeholders (not beneficiaries) is questionable. Many of those who were given the PMAY scheme could not complete the construction of their homes because the amount is insufficient. The amount is based on calculations in the plains. In the hilly regions transportation cost of construction materials is much higher. Hence many such homes are left half done. The State Government could step in with an additional amount to help complete these homes.
The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is incomplete in several parts of Meghalaya. A timeline should be set for completion of this important project because water is life. The environment is crying out for survival even while the Forest and Environment Department chooses to look the other way if not actually colluding with those intent on denuding the state of its forest cover. Here of course the District Councils also stand guilty as hell since they are custodians of forests outside the reserved forests.One important New Year resolution for Meghalaya should be that the assembly should sit more often and citizens should set the agenda for their legislators. Assembly debates should be based on ground research and for this MLAs should set aside a portion of their MLA scheme to pay for such research and solid recommendations.The Assembly is not for nit-picking and spinning casual remarks into political fodder thereby leaving little or no room for meaningful discourse. Citizens should demand that politicians shun rhetoric and forgo outrageous allegations in today’s clickbait-driven climate and focus instead on substantive issues. These New Year Resolutions from the MDA-2 Government, from citizens and legislators could hopefully help usher in better governance.
