Shillong, Mar 6: Chief minister Conrad K Sangma, who presented his eighth consecutive state budget on Wednesday, has listed a number of factors behind the “reversal of fortunes” from a “period of crisis” for Meghalaya and its people since 2018.
“We have achieved an impressive 11% economic growth over the past seven years,” Sangma said.
The growth is fuelled by expanding public investments due to increase in tax devolutions and State’s own revenues, leveraging Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), Externally Aided Projects (EAPs), and new schemes such as Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI)”.
The 2010-18 period was a time of crisis for state finances compared to other North Eastern and hilly states, he said.
Before Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) took over, he said, the state government was unable to make critical investments in sectors such as health, education and core infrastructure such as roads, water supply and power.
However, the scenario has changed after MDA took over in 2018, he said.
“For instance, a comparative analysis of the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of Assam and Meghalaya shows how both States had similar poverty rates at the start of the period, and how Assam reduced its multi-dimensionally poor population by 13%, whereas Meghalaya reduced by only 4.8%”, he added.
He also informed that despite the COVID pandemic, the state has been able to streamline State finances, improve governance, strengthen service delivery, protect the rights of the indigenous people, maintain peace and harmony and make transformative investments across sectors.
“The results of these investments are already visible in sectors like Health, Water Supply, Tourism, Women empowerment, Entrepreneurship, Information Technology and Power. However, the indicators in sectors like agriculture, nutrition and education need longer turnaround times. The Government is committed to working harder and strengthen collaborations to ensure improvement in every sustainable development goal,” he said.
