Politically, the non – violent movement of the people had resulted in the formation of the Autonomous state on April 2, 1970 and as a full fledged state on January 21 in the year 1972. Through all these years the political leadership till today had not fully come to terms with the vision matching with the grass root and ground realities, resulting in the non – fulfillment of commitments in the various development spheres. Stumbling blocks have therefore more often emerged in achieving the desired goals because of faulty planning, marginalizing the different functionaries of traditional administration, thus failing to get their co – operation and involvement. Consequently the implementation stage faces adverse problems, causing delays and also abandonment of schemes and projects, the net result being the wastage of time and money.

Every year the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India have constantly pointed out the many anomalies in planning and execution of the various schemes and projects in development. It seems however that seldom have these revelations been seriously taken note of, nor have attempts been made to rectify the many wrongs. It can be deduced therefore that there is little accountability in the execution of projects by the different departments of the government. Hardly can one come across anything that deserves worthy praise.

As it is, agriculture is the back – bone of the state’s economy. Yet this sector along all these years has not developed as per expectations, the yield of crops during all these years since the attainment of statehood is only marginal. The situation therefore demands that agriculture and community rural development need to be in the priority list, to enable to uplift the welfare of the rural people. In this connection, there are several centrally sponsored schemes. However, it is rather unfortunate that schemes have not been given enough publicity to enable the rural population to take advantage of them. Other rural related activities need to be emphasised, such as soil and water conservation, the co – operative sector, fisheries, animal and husbandry and veterinary, sericulture and weaving, small scale industries from forest products including encouragement of herbal medicinal plants and practices and also generation of power through mini and micro projects.

There is a ray of hope however that there are some patches of development and advancement being made, as some of the policies have struck the right note of progressive activities and that there is still a small band of dedicated and committed workers and officers of the different government departments who have exhibited a spirit of sacrifice and devotion to their duties for the welfare of the people.

It is noteworthy to mention the field of horticulture in particular in which steadfast progress is being made in the cultivation of local fruits and also in popularising products such as sohshan and strawberry. The department had taken the initiative in holding strawberry festivals which have greatly helped in educating the farmers and has opened avenues for the increase of production of such local fruits as Sohiong the black berry. Private entrepreneurs have followed suit in the attempt to grow more fruits of local nature including the famous orange, the outcome being that several home or cottage industries have come up in the production of fruit products which have, in a humble way, contributed to the growth of the state’s economy and have provided employment to the people especially in the fruit growing areas. So is also the case of tea plantations where several farmers have taken up the venture, especially in the growing of organic tea which has steadily gained fame and even captured the market even outside the state. It is very important that horticulture activities also include production of indigenous wine which has gained popularity especially in the annual wine festivals being held in Shillong.

Meghalaya therefore can ill afford to go for large scale industries considering its size and population as it is very important to maintain the demographic structure of the population. The state can also take advantage of the abundant availability of bamboo species. A step has therefore been taken in the right direction in the opening of the cane and bamboo industry at Moodyndeng in Jaintia Hills, under the Scheme of Fund Regeneration of Traditional Industries. There are other area in which such centres can be opened up and people can be encouraged to take up such ventures.

Ultimately, it is these rural industries which can boost and attract tourism. Being smokeless industries, they can also contribute a substantial amount to the state’s economy without affecting the environment too much. Against these potentials, the state government should go slow on mining, especially in the mining of limestone and coal which are major causes of destruction both to the environment and also the tourist sites including the famous limestone caves in the Jaintia Hills which have gained international importance.

Delays and dilly – dallying, non – utilisation of funds specially from the Centre are some of the ills that are a stark testimony, such as the much talked about Assembly building, fly overs, Shillong byepass which still remain castles floating in the air because of lack of down - to - earth hard decisions.