Meghalaya has been taking commendable steps in information technology and governance with its innovative schemes and projects. The state which stood 22nd in the SKOCH Annual Assessment of Governance in India in 2017 rose up the ladder and was ranked 21st this year. While the state had shown a commendable performance in Finance sector last year, it made new strides in governance and information technology this year. SKOCH shortlisted three of the state’s projects in e-Governance and governance, and found that one of its projects was laudable and noteworthy.

The state has set up the Meghalaya Institute of Governance (MIG) which is a focal institution for guiding governance reforms and improving governance structures and processes. It has helped document and disseminate success cases and best practices in governance across the state. The MIG project involves administrative surgery, including redesign of administrative processes in general and particularly for the governance services highlighted. The Meghalaya Institute of Governance has a 3-way pronged approach which is people, society and governance.

The goals and objectives of the MIG are as follows:

• To act as a think tank and facilitate, translate government goals, objectives and policy priorities into tangible reform actions for good governance
• To work with government departments and other stakeholders to analyse key issues in governance and identify solutions, help develop action plans and support implementation of the plans
• To undertake capacity building of stakeholders, including local governance institutions and community based organisations
• To provide technical support and advisory services to the state in the areas of action research, change management, design and implementation of governance reforms, including governance reforms
• To identify those areas of change that can impact in improving performance and enable in responding better to the needs of the people
• To create a repository of best practices, methodologies and tools in governance, including successful e-Governance applications

Besides the MIG project, other two projects in e-Governance by the Government of Meghalaya were studied closely for their potential.

National Informatics Centre, Meghalaya State Centre and the Directorate of Horticulture conceived, designed and implemented an internet based Agricultural Market Information System(AMIS) which displays prices and arrival information on a wide range of agricultural commodities grown in the state in real time. The project aims to establish an electronic interface for speedy collection and dissemination of market information from various rural primary markets in the state for its efficient utilisation.

The State Government also launched the e-District Project in Meghalaya in 2016. The project is a work flow based application towards processing of any service. The citizen can register in the portal and apply for the service. The application actually gets routed to the inbox of the dealing assistant who forwards to the next WFP with remarks. Eventually it is signed by the issuing authority.

All these initiatives in governance are sure to bring in more transparency and efficiency in the various layers of functioning in the government.