Bhubaneswar: The governments of Odisha and Meghalaya on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen early childhood care, education and development through mutual learning and collaboration.
The agreement was signed by Principal Secretary of Meghalaya’s Community and Rural Development Department Sampath Kumar and Additional Secretary of Odisha’s Women and Child Development Department Ananta Narayan Singh Laguri.
According to an official statement, the MoU aims to enhance holistic early childhood interventions covering nutrition, health, early learning, responsive caregiving, community participation and institutional capacity building.
It provides a structured framework for the exchange of knowledge, joint research initiatives, exposure visits and documentation of best practices, along with capacity development of officials and frontline functionaries at various levels.
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The partnership seeks to draw on Odisha’s experience in community-based and culturally responsive programmes, while also incorporating Meghalaya’s innovative approaches to delivering social sector services in tribal and geographically challenging regions.
Officials said the collaboration is expected to promote a two-way learning process that will strengthen early childhood outcomes in both states.
