Tura (Meghalaya), May 21: “Recruiting 3,900 personnel is not an achievement. The real achievement is whether crime has reduced.”
That was Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s blunt message to Meghalaya’s police brass on Thursday at the SSP–COs Conference 2026, held at Tree House in West Garo Hills.
The high-level meet pulled senior police leadership and field officers into one room to audit law and order, push reforms, and fast-track SMART, tech-driven policing aligned with Viksit Bharat 2047. Sangma said the conference will now rotate to districts like Jowai and Nongstoin to break silos and sharpen ground connect.
IGP A. Goenka opened the session and released a new Training Manual before a string of briefings laid out the force’s to-do list. DGP I. Nongrang presented resolutions from the DGsP/IGsP Conference 2025, while DIG J. G. Momin tabled the Action Taken Report submitted April 24.
IGP D. N. R. Marak led discussions on law and order and the Meghalaya Police Manual. Goenka detailed integration of PIMS with CM Connect, 1930 Cyber Helpline, CCTNS, and the Police Citizens Portal. Other decks covered MPS Rules amendments by SP G. W. Lyngdoh, and HRMS mobile app-based personnel management, recruitment reforms, and infra proposals by AIG S. R. Marak. Anti-narcotics strategy also got a dedicated slot.
Sangma said several long-pending issues, including NPS concerns, surfaced for the first time in his eight years as CM. “The first step is to create a platform where issues can be openly expressed. That itself is the beginning of finding solutions,” he told officers, ordering all presentations compiled for his review. He also called for a joint meeting with the DGP, Home Department, and Minister to drive time-bound action.
The CM shifted focus to outcomes: conviction rates, crimes against women and children, drug offences, and grassroots security. He pushed for continuous training in intelligence gathering, behavioral sciences, and technology, and suggested exposure visits to Mumbai and Delhi to adopt best practices.
“Policing is not an easy job, and all of you work under challenging conditions,” Sangma said, thanking the force while making it clear that public safety metrics will be the scoreboard going forward.
IGP D. P. Marak delivered the Vote of Thanks, closing a session that put 124 national policing recommendations under the scanner and tied Meghalaya’s roadmap to citizen-centric, tech-first enforcement.
