Meghalaya received a prestigious United Nations award for coming up with the e-offer system and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma went to Geneva to receive it. To his supporters, he is the most dynamic and vibrant Chief Minister of the Northeast. From fighting fierce political battles in the summer of ’69 to putting Meghalaya on the international map, he is a man of many facets.
With the assembly elections next year, Sangma is gearing up for the next fight. He spoke exclusively to News18 about the global recognition he has received, the challenges he has faced and the support he has received from the tasks he has accomplished in the last five years. Narendra Modi Government at the Centre, and the ensuing electoral contest. Edited excerpt:
How does it feel to receive this United Nations award?
It feels great, makes us proud. It makes our state and country proud because our project, our state, was the only state that got this award from India. We competed against other countries and the competition was very tough and this project is something we have been working on for a very long time. I myself am from IT background. I could feel the different departments trying to do different things on their own. A lot of them were trying to develop software. We realized that the efforts would not bear fruit unless they came together and made a common blueprint linking all the departments. We created Meghalaya’s architectural legacy… from government to government, government to business and then it’s a fancy thing to citizens… We started e-offerings, and we enabled the process. From the proposal stage, we wanted everything to be paperless. What used to take 45 days earlier now takes 24 hours. We are saving time.
It was a tough competition. China also participated in this. How will it help in the governance process?
Obviously, it was tough competition. We focused on sustainable development. For the United Nations, the permanent goal was a big priority and so they took it as such. It is a process where everything will be paperless but not in a day. Government-to-government proposals have become smooth. It will go to the citizens effectively in time, will also be easy for the public.
Do you think Meghalaya has changed in the last five years? There is an election next year. Why do you think the people of Meghalaya would have faith in you?
Despite a large number of challenges over the years on COVID and other things, we were very focused on a few principles. First of all, if anything, we worked on the efficiency of the government. Whatever we did, we did it with efficiency. We planned everything and it was necessary to keep an eye on everything from above. It was monitored by me from the top level.
We were at the bottom of the vaccination charts when we took office, and are now in the top 3; So the same program but we did it differently.
We were at a point where the Center had to cancel various projects due to non-completion for the last 15 years; Today we are one of the better performing states. We have done more than five times as much as before. When we came, only 4,000 houses had water connections. Now we have water connections in more than 2 lakh houses.
We had a big issue on MGNREGA; The annual expenditure was Rs 500 crore and now it is Rs 1,500 crore. In National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), we used to spend Rs 2 to 3 crore, now we are spending Rs 100 crore. What we made sure was that the engine worked well. Today we are spending twice as much in the development budget as before.
We cannot say with elections, it will be decided by the people. I’m sure they’ve seen our work. I am sure people will give us a chance. Not only development, we have given top priority to issues related to farmers and youth.
What support have you got from the central government?
There was tremendous support. The support given by the PM to the Northeast should be appreciated. I am not trying to compare but the kind of help we get from the Center is tremendous. They send ministers, bureaucrats, and whenever we go to Delhi, we get their appointments, they solve problems within hours. We are seeing that special attention is being given by the Centre. States which are doing well, completing projects quickly, are getting additional funds. For example, we are one of the few states that got a bonus budget because we completed the work ahead of time. Last year, they gave Rs 4,000 crore more because of our performance.
Will the NPP contest the elections in alliance with the BJP or will it fight alone in Meghalaya?
If you remember my last interview, I said that we fight elections on our ideology and alone. So we will fight alone. We fight for our ideology. We’ll see after the election, obviously.
Who is your main opposition: Congress or TMC?
Look, the opposition is divided and it is always good for us. You had a strong Congress there. The departure of Mukul Sangma and others has weakened the opposition, creating a strong narrative for the government. This creates a natural advantage for us.
Choices are never easy, so we will take everything very seriously. I don’t take things lightly and that’s why we will work very hard.
All opposition parties are important to me. Every candidate is important. We should not be overconfident.
Abhishek Banerjee is coming to the state. What do you have to do?
He has a right to come and organize. TMC also has a problem with factions.
Are TMC MLAs in touch with you?
They may be involved but I won’t tell you right now. They are in touch.
Your government has been accused of neglecting environmental issues…
Mining matters. We have to strike a balance. We cannot ignore the economy; There are challenges.
The important part is to keep the balance there. The government should have the right policy. It’s not that we’re not doing anything. We are trying to strike a balance between economy and ecology.
We have started an innovative project for ecology. Meghalaya is showing the way.
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