Chief Minister and his government in a state ofbewilderment. Whether the government will be able to comply with the demands has become a big question mark.

In the first place, the Chief Minister might not have thought of this kind of reaction which can have widespread ramifications and far reaching consequences. Though the coalition partners of the ruling Congress are keeping a close watch on the situation, the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had stated that this decision was made without cabinet consent which has become a major issue. Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh of Mawkyrwat constituency in West Khasi Hills had pleaded that he was unaware of this decision of the Chief Minister in leaving out West Khasi Hills in the process of re – structuring the districts of the state.

This has put the Chief Minister in a tight corner and he was compelled to also announce the creation of another district in West Khasi Hills besides the three other districts which he had already announced namely the upgrade of the sub divisions of Ampati and Resubelpara in Garo Hills and Khliehriat in Jaintia Hills. Ironically, the Jaintia Youth Federation has warned that it will launch a movement to boycott the 2013 assembly elections if Khliehriat sub – division is not upgraded within one year of the announcement and that the foundation stone of the new district should be laid within 30 days of the announcement.

The opposition leader Conrad Sangma had stated on the floor of the Legislative Assembly during this budget session that the sudden decision in creating these districts is but one of the election gimmicks. Conrad Sangma has indeed got a point as the announcement has already resulted in political ramifications. There is no doubt that the ruling Congress has gone ahead and taken credit for the creation of the districts in the name of fulfilling the aspirations of the people.

Already there are seven districts in the state since the establishment of Meghalaya 40 years ago. What is therefore the criteria in the upgrade of initially three sub – divisions, two in Garo Hills and one in Jaintia Hills and later another announcement made under pressure for the creation of another district which was not named but indicated to be either Mairang or Mawkyrwat. This had already created a controversy. Already the United Democratic Party (UDP) Mawkyrwat Youth Wing has demanded that the Mawkyrwat sub – division in West Khasi Hills should be upgraded. However, parallel demands have been made for the upgrade of Mairang sub – division against the announcement of the Chief Minister that only one more district would be created for the present to total four new districts in all. These, along with the seven existing districts would mean that Meghalaya, in total, would have 11 districts inn the future.

Therefore the upgrade of either Mairang or Mawkyrwat has become a tug of war which has placed the government in an embarrassing position. Political parties are already exerting leverage on the issue. The main contention of the Mawkyrwat demand is that the area is the most neglected and that there are hardly any developmental activities besides the non – existence of roads leading to the interior areas. In the midst of the bone of contention between Mairang and Mawkyrwat, the Dorbar Shnong of Mawsynram Block has demanded the upgrade of Mawsynram Block into a Civil Sub – Division and have said that the people of Mawsynram do not want to be tagged with any new district. On 21st March 2012, the Chief Minsiter announced that Mawkyrwat would be the fourth new district of Meghalaya.

The Chief Minster had claimed that the creation of the new districts would address the issue of the uncontrolled trend of migration from the rural to the urban areas thereby reducing the problem of congestion besides tackling the problem of unemployment. All allied departments would be upgraded to district level where proper infrastructure would be provided for development in the right perspective.

A pertinent point has to be raised as to who will foot the bill for the creation of the new districts and also how the recruiting expenses will be met. This is certainly a million dollar question, to which only the Chief Minister himself can give a befitting reply

However, the present existing districts do not represent such a rosy picture as envisaged by the Chief Minster in which most of the district administrations are under remote control of the State Secretariat and heads of the different departments resulting in undue delays of work plans which are also adversely blocked by the presence of red – tapism. This has brought about a sense of frustration among the people as most of the district administrations had failed to deliver the goods in time. The entire process of executing and implementing especially when it comes to schemes and projects have immensely suffered, especially when district administrations can not make independent decisions and have to follow orders.

The question arises as to whether the new districts will suffer the same apathy or will they work under new guidelines as accordingly laid down by the Chief Minster. However, there can not be different types of functioning between the existing districts and the new districts to be created as it is desired that all the district administrations follow a uniform set of rules.

The Chief Minister had mentioned that one of the objectives for the creation of new districts was to check the migration from the rural to the urban areas. However, this migration can not be checked by the creation of the new districts alone. Effective implementation of the rural schemes that benefit the people such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is the way to address this problem. This scheme is designed to provide unskilled wage employment to registered beneficiaries which would create sustainable assets providing livelihood, enhance road connectivity, conserve water and environment and improve irrigation facilities. However, the element of corruption has seeped into the MGNREGA scheme in some areas of this flagship programme and if rectifying steps are not taken, the disappointed rural folk will continue to shift to urban areas and defeat the very purpose of creating new districts.

A pertinent point has to be raised as to who will foot the bill for the creation of the new districts and also how the recruiting expenses will be met. This is certainly a million dollar question, to which only the Chief Minister himself can give a befitting reply as he toys with the idea of turning Shillong into a separate district within the state of Meghalaya.

Sumar Sing Sawian