Elton C. Warjri, Youth Activist- In these 37 years of Statehood we have had development but we still lack in basic infrastructure like roads, education and health care. The government should be serious about addressing these issues. In education the state has been facing the problem of drop-outs. The literacy rate is low as compared to the national average, a state like Mizoram which attained statehood much later than Meghalaya boasts of cent per cent literacy rate, Manipur is a power house in the field of sports but we are far behind these states. But looking ahead, the future looks bright, we the youths are the future of the society and we should strive to work hard for its development and make Meghalaya a model state. Lastly, the state needs young and dynamic leaders who can lead the state into prosperity.  

Hasina Kharbhih, Team Leader Impulse NGO Network- When we look at how the state has moved ahead I would say that the law and order situation in terms of it being very peaceful is very much relevant in terms of the North East, secondly as a new state I would say, compared to other states in India it has gone way ahead to ensure that there is a lot of development that is taking place. However, I think that the state still has a lot more to do, because India right now is gearing up to ensure that there should be no child labour especially with the Juvenile Justice Act and the amendment which took place in 2006, it becomes a responsibility of the state. But in Meghalaya we still see the existence of child labour especially in mining areas. Therefore the state needs to look into that angle because children are the future  and they have a right which has to be recognised.

Over the years Shillong has been promoted as the educational hub of the North East and now with the coming up of institutions of repute in the state there are still certain aspects that needs to be looked into. When we call Meghalaya the educational hub, the state must also gear itself up to provide employment opportunities - that will be the right kind of promotion. If we try to promote education opportunity to everybody and at the end of the day you don’t have employment opportunity then what happens is that educational promotion does not make any sense for young people. We really need to look at skill based education - which promotes employment opportunity and skill. 

Basic health care under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode is being implemented in the state. Looking to achieve total health care in rural areas will go a long way if it can be facilitated in the best way. It is a good idea to reach and give basic health care to the people in the rural areas where maximum CHCs and PHCs are non-functioning. Under the PPP mode it is ensured that a medical doctor is present in the CHCs and PHCs. So there is a kind of a social audit taking place which is a good idea. 

As a woman when I look at safety I think of it in terms of a gender balance that needs to be promoted where there is no vulnerability in being a woman. When we look at crimes taking place in Meghalaya I would say that there has been more crimes reported because of greater awareness. Ten years earlier there was crime but people were not aware. The difference between now and then is that people nowadays are aware. Education has empowered them and crimes are reported. Looking at safety from a personal angle we need to have a safety net developed not just by the law enforcers but the safety net also has to be a part of community policing.

Susana Marak, Chairperson, Meghalaya State Women Commission, Although Meghalaya is a matrilineal society women are not respected. This is apparent in the rise of incidence of violence against them. The police system is not well-equipped to combat the rise in crime against women. The accused are not put to trial immediately and it takes painfully long to prosecute them. The Forensic Science Laboratory is also not fully-equipped to tackle the rise in crime against women. Specimens have to be sent to Andhra Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal further delaying the investigation. The people in our society are not aware about crimes against women and awareness programmes still have to be organised in different spheres of society. Fast track courts have to be set up for faster delivery of cases especially of crimes against women. At present Fast Track Courts has been set up only in Jowai, Shillong and Tura but these courts should also be set up in every district headquarters and sub-division for speedy delivery of cases.

Toki Blah, Social Activist- So after 37 years of Statehood it is a pertinent question to ask, “What have we achieved in Meghalaya?” I think this is something that cannot be answered lightly because it needs a lot of introspection.Mostly it is quite disappointing when we look back for 37 years and what Meghalaya has done for itself. Basically there are 3-4 issues. First will be the political issue, have we really achieved political awareness, political independence as  is expected of a state of this nature? I think we have failed miserably. Instead of political leaders who are expected to lead the state, we now have been able to produce political pygmies who are looking only at their own constituencies rather than into the state of Meghalaya. We see this narrowing of views, this exclusiveness, and this withdrawing symptom. There are people now who are asking for a Khasi state. What is behind this asking for such a Khasi state? No one really knows. It is just a whim of someone’s fickle mind but then we have not seen any reaction from the political class to this very inconsistent political demand.

From the social aspect, where are we? I think we have lost more or less all our moral moorings and social values which were there 37 years ago. I think we have brought in values which are more on monetary consideration rather than on interaction between humans and the environment they live in. This is sad we are going down hill steadily even in the social front.

The economic aspect is very disheartening. I do not know what the per capita income in Meghalaya is, but I strongly feel and suspect that it should be well below Rs. 100 per day per person. This is well below the normal Indian average per capita income per day of a person. What have we done? Where is the economic development that is taking place in the entire state? When we look at the rural areas where 80 percent of the people live, we see issues of poverty, illiteracy, poor healthcare and the most alarming aspect is the rampant destruction of our own environment and our natural assets. There is no one who has paid any attention to this. The political class lives on its own cloud nine while the people below them have nothing to look forward to.

Lastly, after 37 years we don’t have a policy or a road map as to where we want to go in 50 years from now. No one really knows where Meghalaya is heading and this is very alarming. 

L. Harrison Syiemlieh, Founder Editor, U Pyrta Riewlum – The leadership of Assam did not want the hill state to be created but the people in the hills were feeling suffocated by the misrule of the Assam government. The immediate cause for the demand of a separate hill state was the introduction of Assamese as a language in the hill areas. This was strongly opposed by the leadership who spearheaded the movement for the creation of a hill state. The plan to introduce Assamese as the official language even in the hill areas was a ploy to derive us of our democratic rights as citizens of India. I remember we were told to conduct ourselves in a non-violent way; the same way that Gandhi won independence for India. There were mass rallies in every nook and corner of the state to make people aware about the objectives for a separate hill state. During those days of upheaval the Congress opposed our demand for a hill state because they were controlled by the leaders from the centre who did not want us to have a state of our own. 

The demand for a separate state was the outcome of the farsightedness of our leaders of those times. They had seen the extreme poverty, illiteracy and all round underdevelopment in the hill areas under the rule of the Assam government. Therefore they thought the only way that these areas can develop is by asking for a separate state. In these last 37 years, no doubt we have developed as a state but there is a lot to be done. As a society we are seeing a change for the worse in values and traditions. Our youths seem to have forgotten their own culture; they are more interested in aping the west. Compared to other states in the country our state is less developed economically, there are issues of unemployment. A large part of the state still lives in hunger and poverty, a large section of the society is still deprived of basic rights like education, healthcare and safe drinking water. This is not the Meghalaya our fathers who had fought for a separate hill state dreamt about.