Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has proposed projects worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore to the Arvind Panagariya-led 16th Finance Commission (XVI-FC).
CM Sangma proposed the projects while making a presentation before the XVI-FC, which will make its recommendations available by October 31, 2025, covering an award period of five years commencing April 1, 2026.
Hailing the presentation, Panagariya said, “The chief minister was very engaged. One could see the passion and the engagement he has with the state’s development. We were very impressed with what we saw. The presentation itself was very extensive. It covers numerous programmes relating to demography, geography and tourism.”
“The state has some very specific suggestions and in particular, the pitch for a larger proportion of the state’s share to be devolved based on forests. While the 15th Finance Commission has given a weight of 10 percent to forest and ecology, Meghalaya’s proposal is we raise it to 15 percent,” he said.
He said the state also suggested the introduction of a new criterion called the rural dispersion of the population.
“In this, they said 2.5 to 5 percent weight be given. If we are able to do it then this will be a new criterion,” he said.
He found it remarkable how the state had so dramatically lowered maternal mortality.
“There is a programme under which apparently the state has recorded every single pregnant woman, and they follow and they have that data on first, second, third trimester,” he said.
The presentation also highlighted the programme on early childhood development under which kids are trained for different sports from an early age, he added.
He also noted that the state’s debt-to-GDP ratio is high as well as its fiscal deficit.
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On the ambitious Mission 10 initiative of the state government, he said, “The state has a very ambitious plan… and the commitments it has to the people of Meghalaya. The state is targeting to take the GDP to USD 10 billion by 2028, which would bring its per capita income close to about USD 3,000, which is quite good.”
