By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 25: Meghalaya and Telangana have signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand cooperation on human development and governance innovation. The agreement was formalised on November 22, 2025, during the Telangana-NorthEast Connect Festival in Hyderabad.
The MoU links Meghalaya’s State Capability Enhancement Project – Government Innovation Lab (SCEP–GIL) with Telangana’s Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and the Department of Women Development & Child Welfare (WDCW).
It was signed by Dr Sampath Kumar, Principal Secretary and Development Commissioner, Meghalaya; Anita Ramachandran, Secretary, WCD&SC, Telangana; and Divya Devarajan, CEO-SERP, Telangana, in the presence of Governor of Telangana, Jishnu Dev Varma.
The partnership creates a Human Development Exchange between the two states to share field-tested innovations, data-driven tools and facilitation methods. It includes exposure visits for officials and community leaders, joint learning labs on maternal and child health, early childhood development, social protection, women’s collectives, livelihoods, and co-created guidelines for frontline workers supporting vulnerable households.
The collaboration builds on Meghalaya’s Human Development Leadership Programme (HDLP), launched in 2024 under the Human Development Council chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. HDLP brings multi-department block teams and community leaders together for joint field visits to identify barriers faced by vulnerable families and improve access to public services.
Under the MoU, Meghalaya will share insights from HDLP’s fieldwork in remote villages, while learning from Telangana’s decades of experience with women’s self-help groups, social mobilisation and women and child welfare systems.
The Human Development Exchange aims to help both states scale practical solutions emerging from on-ground experimentation and strengthen governance for mothers, children and vulnerable communities.
