Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday dismissed Opposition allegations that the state’s employment programmes have failed, stating that Meghalaya’s youthful population structure requires continuous, long-term interventions and that flagship schemes are already showing measurable impact.
Replying to Trinamool Congress MLA Dr Mizanur Kazi, who questioned whether prevailing unemployment levels reflected policy shortcomings, the chief minister said it would be incorrect to label government strategies as failures.
He pointed out that unemployment data varies across surveys, citing figures of 6.0 per cent for 2022–23 and 6.2 per cent for 2023–24 from the Periodic Labour Force Survey, and 3.1 per cent from CMIE estimates, noting that these differences arise due to varying sample sizes and methodologies.
Sangma said that multiple government interventions have already contributed to employment generation, with around 3.66 lakh jobs created in recent years.
He acknowledged that the overall goal may not yet be fully achieved but maintained that progress is being made steadily. “It is a process, and we are moving in the right direction,” he said.
Highlighting the state’s demographic realities, the chief minister said Meghalaya has a uniquely young population, with nearly half of its people below the age of 20, as mentioned in the report.
He said this reality demands the introduction of more employment-oriented programmes through different missions and sectors, rather than short-term solutions.
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Speaking on the FOCUS programme, Sangma said Rs. 140 crore has been sanctioned to 22,500 producer groups, benefiting around 2.1 lakh people, while the FOCUS+ initiative has reached an additional 1.5 lakh beneficiaries.
He added that farmers have reported improvements in production as a direct result of the financial support and assured that the scheme’s impact would expand further in the future.
On access to self-employment opportunities, the chief minister referred to CM-Elevate, describing it as a major umbrella initiative that covers entrepreneurship, tourism, sports, wellness and allied sectors.
He said the programme received an overwhelming response, with 22,000 applications submitted within just 20 days, forcing the government to temporarily close the portal due to volume. Applications, he added, are being accepted through the Meghalaya One portal.
