IAS Diaries Part 13- Meghalaya

Meghalaya is one such state where you would not find the requirement to point out the beautiful spots. It’s mesmerizing from North to South and from East to West as well. All of it is serene, all of it, pristine. As soon you enter the territory of the state on the Guwahati-Shillong road, all of a sudden you find the landscape has changed. Within no time you find yourself among the lush green Khasi hills. And it only gets better as you move up towards Shillong. As ours is a joint cadre, we also spend some time in Meghalaya which involves an induction training in the capital and then two weeks attachment in some district.

For this one week in Shillong, we were put up in the Guest House of North East Hill University (NEHU) which I am sure many would concur is one of the most beautiful academic campuses in the region. Among the tall vegetation and the numerous water bodies are several departments and hostels. A simple walk inside the campus can rejuvenate you out of all the miseries that surround you. The air around is no naturally fresh that you can actually feel yourself healing, physically and spiritually. The first part of the attachment was with the Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI) which was organized very professionally and was well thought of and structured. The faculties who came to take the sessions were mostly senior officers from the IAS and MCS and they had plenty of experience and stories to share. We often have the perception that the big states with better infrastructure and leverage would have more impressive ATIs, a perception that changes after a visit to MATI.

Meghalaya is entirely a 6^th schedule area and the governance and administration are intermingled in a complex structure. Like a typical district in India, the Office of the Deputy Commissioner is there in every district but it has not been given all the subjects to deal with. Most of the things are decided by the District Councils at the district level and the Village councils at the village level. The Village councils are headed by the Village Headman who is elected by the villagers. This all is a constitutional provision given to safeguard the autonomy of the local people.

During the MATI attachment we had one opportunity to meet the various members of the Khasi District Council and also one of the village headman from the same district. They were very welcoming and made us understood their roles and responsibilities and the various other forums on which they interact with the district administration. All of them were speaking so passionately about their roles and the ideas to take Meghalaya forward in an inclusive way. At the end, the first glimpses of this unique model of governance left us intrigued and thoughtful.

After an oversight on several government institutions working in the capital, we went to our respective allotted districts. I, along with Sumit, was attached to Ribhoi District for two weeks which is the first district you cross when you enter Meghalaya from Guwahati. Although the DC Office functioning is more or less similar to that in other states but there is a huge difference when it comes to work classification. The difference being the fact that in Meghalaya, we only have 3% of the entire land as government land and thus the revenue work in minimal. The land belongs mostly to communities and private individuals. And they themselves decide upon the land usage pattern. This would mean that the District Administration is majorly focusing upon Law & Order and other developmental issues.

On the next day, we were attached to one of the centers of ICAR in the district which was a thoroughly enlightening experience for me as I personally feel that I do not have that kind of exposure to agriculture and allied activities. They took us to several branches where the respective Scientists explained to us the kind of research they are doing and how they are working with the local people and especially the farmers to improve their productivity and to make them aware of new technologies and developments. That brings us to the point that so much is being done in several fields from the state’s end which people have no clue about. The only thing we need to ensure is that we connect all the aspiring farmers to these wonderful initiatives in the field of agriculture.

On the second day, we went to the North East Space Application Center (NESAC) which is one of its kind in the region and is situated in one of the most beautiful possible places in the district, just opposite to the Umian lake viewpoint. There the Managing Director took special interest in our visit and spent considerable time with us explaining to us the various activities and tasks undertaken by the institute in spite his very busy schedule. They explained to us how they are implementing the tele-education and tele-medicine projects and how they do aerial surveys using the UAVs which they have built. At such places, seeing the talented Indian Engineers hard at work, I am always reminded of the choice they had made, to stay in the country and work for its progress, a patriotic spirit that we seldom give recognition to.

After that, we had an attachment with the North East Police Academy popularly called as NEPA which is located near NESAC only. They have a superb campus with excellent facilities and environment to train young officer level recruits of the several states of the North east region. This year even Assam had sent their newly recruited DySPs to NEPA given the excellent training facilities present there. Most of the North Eastern States use this academy for training their DySPs. A proud institution of the state.

Another brilliant initiative which is going on in Meghalaya now is the Basin Development wherein they are doing capacity building and skill development to promote entrepreneurship and to generate employment opportunities in the state. In one such initiative, an unemployed youth was taught the art of candle making. He was provided with the equipment which essentially was a collection of moulds. He was also made aware of the various places which provide for wax at a cheap rate under this program. Today he is successfully selling his produce in the local markets of Shillong. Fortunately we met him at his small manufacturing site at the time of Diwali and we thought it would be wonderful to send these colorful wax items as gifts to our relatives and friends. It indeed was.

Also, we went to one of the villages in the interiors of Ribhoi District and coincidentally the village headman was the same person who met us in Khasi District Council panel discussion. He enthusiastically showed us around the endless initiatives that he has started in his village. To start with he had constructed several roads under MNREGS and with several other convergence funds. He had also very well planned for the water usage in the village by constructing several check dams and small canals and water reservoirs as well. He had also done good innovation in the efficient land use of the villages by encouraging several locals to get involved in horticulture. He had also initiated attempts to install a Waste to Bio-gas plant in his village. It was heartening to see all such things in a far flung village.

Another wonderful attachment was with the Fisheries training institute which is also situated in this district. We went in the villages to see several ponds set up under various schemes of the governments. Along with that we also inspected several hatcheries were they breed the fish. In Meghalaya there is immense potential of developing aquaculture or fisheries but the main issue is with the availability of brooder fishes which are used for the purpose of breeding. Because of the infrastructural requirement and the technical knowledge requirement, the locals have been running away from it. But with this present intervention, that issue is being addressed and already the local fish production figures are rising exponentially.

In between these attachments, we also got the time to travel across the length and breadth of the state. For me, Meghalaya is the most beautiful state among all. The numerous waterfalls, virgin hills, root-bridges, serene treks, ultra clean villages, pleasant meadows and the wonderful local people that they are. I still remember the Sohra Marathon, the Prettiest Marathon, all along that route from Shillong to Sohra, there was rain and there were clouds. I felt as if there was nothing else. I could not even feel my own existence as if I had been dissolved. Such is the mesmerizing Meghalaya.