Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday said that the work of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government and the state has been globally and nationally recognized and appreciated recently.
“Meghalaya won the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society Award in Switzerland for digital innovations in governance. It was a moment of great pride for me when I received the award personally. Our state was also ranked as the top performer alongside Gujarat and Karnataka in the National Startup Rankings for 2021,” he said during his speech at the Independence Day celebration in Shillong.
He said that the recognition for Meghalaya meant that amongst the smaller states, the state provided the best ecosystem for building businesses. “We have performed well in the NITI Aayog’s innovation index. Further, the Government of India has praised the implementation of the Externally Aided Projects in our state, and has provided us with additional grant funding to expand the projects. We are today among the top states in the implementation of externally aided projects that are awarded to the States based on merit, performance, and innovations.”
Stating that Meghalaya is looked upon as the emerging state, Sangma said, “Multilateral Donors like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and organizations like the IKEA foundation and Amazon India are partnering with and investing in the state and its entrepreneurs. This is the new Meghalaya. A Meghalaya of pride, hope, ambition, and opportunities.”
He further said that the government in the last four and half years has been able to build faith and trust amongst its people. “We have painstakingly built Meghalaya over the last four and half years. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the farmers, the youth, the women, the community leaders, and all the residents for participating in the rise of this new Meghalaya.”