Shillong (Meghalaya), Jan 19: With an aim to encourage innovators and inclusive innovations in public systems across the Northeast Indian States, Union Territories and Hill States, in the field of Education, Health, Information Technology and Rural Development, an award ceremony and panel discussion was held today in Shillong. Awards were given to states who stood out in terms of innovative practices in the mentioned sectors. This Award Ceremony was organized for the 1st time by the Centre for Innovations in Public Systems (CIPS) in collaboration with the Government Innovation Lab (GIL), Government of Meghalaya, with the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) as knowledge partners.
Addressing the audience as the Chief Guest of the ceremony, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma congratulated CIPS and ASCI for organizing the innovation awards ceremony in the State. He said that this is a recognition of all the innovations that have been taking place not only in Meghalaya, but in other States across the country. He mentioned that the best way to achieve the State goals is through collaborative efforts and said that in the last 5 years, although he contributed in laying down the vision for the State, the capable and collaborative efforts of the administrative staff and functionaries at all levels were responsible for a plethora of innovations brought about in various sectors through a decentralized approach, and added that this can be an example for practitioners from other states present at the award ceremony to follow.
He added that innovation in all forms is always great, but any innovation is only good as long as it is able to help the people achieve their goals. One has to undergo the process of problem diagnosis in any sector, for innovation to work effectively; often those problems that are not easily identifiable at first sight. The ability to diagnose the problem and then adapt it to the State scenario is crucial. For instance, when addressing high maternal and infant mortality in the State, he said “it was important to economically engage our mothers and women through SHGs and create an enabling environment for women in decision making realms at the grassroots”. In line with this, currently Meghalaya is at above 90 percent households covered under SHGs. He stressed on the importance of working together as a team and the need to streamline and simplify rules and processes to be able to achieve collective goals.
The special address was given by the Guest of Honour in the Award Ceremony, Dr. V.K Paul, Member, NITI Ayog, Government of India. He informed that the official mandate of NITI Ayog includes two elements- 1) Promoting cooperative federalism and 2) Promoting competitive federalism. He stated that this award ceremony was more focused on the competitive federalism aspect. He appreciated Meghalaya’s initiatives in promoting innovation in public systems. He also added that the country is moving towards strengthening health systems through various National Programmes to reach the last mile of the population, and requested the policy practitioners and administrators to create a paradigm that would enable running hospitals in the public sector using the best systems of administration. For CIPS in particular, he highlighted focused innovation through the lens of SDGs. He also spoke about the need to prioritize the awards and innovations in the education sector, to build a strong human capital.
Paul went on to appreciate Meghalaya’s Village Health Councils (VHCs) and said that it has the ability to transform health in a significant manner. He expressed surprise at the implementation and impact of Chief Ministers Safe Motherhood Scheme (CM-SMS) and the impact seen in terms of 50 percent decline in maternal deaths in the State from 2020-23. He further went on to appreciate the Meghalaya Early Childhood (ECD) Mission. He said that the government of Meghalaya has given the right priority to the right innovations through various interventions. He also spoke about the importance of interventions in prevention pathways in the domains of mental health, oral health and elderly health, among others. He urged everyone present at the award ceremony to pay special attention to these paradigms. He congratulated the State on allotting above 8 percent of its budget expenditure to healthcare and urged other states to learn from the Meghalaya Model of addressing healthcare challenges.
Development Commissioner & Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Meghalaya, Sampath Kumar, IAS spoke about Meghalaya’s State Capability Enhancement Approach to drive policy and innovation in solving complex development problems. He described the idea of building state capability as a homegrown approach of the Government of Meghalaya and said the State has an immense capacity to bring transformative development. He added that the State has been mobilizing the existing government workforce at cutting edge levels to build motivation among functionaries to address human development challenges.
