By Divesh Ranjan
- The Morning Queue: A Question of Basic Utilities
Every morning in parts of Meghalaya, families wake up not to opportunity, but to a queue. A queue for water.
In several localities, including areas such as Mawlai constituency, water in the public supply system often begins flowing around 7:15 am. Schools start at 9. Offices begin at 9. To reach on time, many must leave home by 8 am. That means household chores, bathing, cooking, and preparation should ideally be completed by at least 7:30 am. Instead, families wait in long queues at community taps, filling containers in haste, hoping supply does not stop midway.
Sometimes it does stop. At times the supply is interrupted for days, occasionally even longer, before restoration. During such periods, families are compelled to purchase water privately, adding financial pressure to already strained budgets. For poorer households, this becomes not merely inconvenience but hardship.
This is not about comfort. It is about dignity in daily living.
Students rush with half-filled buckets. Some miss school because they cannot complete water collection in time. Parents calculate whether they can bathe, cook, and still reach work without being late. After water collection comes another daily challenge, exhausting traffic congestion that delays arrival at schools, colleges, and offices.
Public Transport and the Strain on Everyday Mobility
In addition to congestion, there is a growing concern for the lack of defined taxi regulation and enforcement procedures. In most shared taxis, commuters are usually packed beyond comfortable seating, with two people sitting alongside the driver and four in the back seat. This is a situation that has become the norm for many commuters, but it is a situation that silently speaks of a problem in regulation.For students rushing to class, workers heading to offices, and elderly passengers travelling for essential needs, this is not merely inconvenience. It is physically draining and, at times, deeply uncomfortable. The daily journey should not feel like an endurance exercise.
Elected officials and policymakers might need to experience traveling in such a setup to appreciate the discomfort of the average citizen. If such a situation is not acceptable for those in power, then regulation and seating limits should seriously be considered.
In some of the advanced Indian states like Kerala, Chennai, Delhi, Karnataka, and West Bengal, the running of autos and taxis is more defined in terms of seating standards. The same could bring comfort to commuters and enhance the dignity of safety in public transport.Passengers often complain in hushed tones, but their grievances seem to fall on deaf ears. When everyday strain becomes the norm, it signals the urgent need for responsive and inclusive governance.It is not just a problem in isolation. It is the reality of life for a vast number of people in Meghalaya, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas. Basic services define the dignity and rhythm of daily life.
In some villages, electricity is not a certainty. There are reports that about 154 villages in the state do not have electricity. In health centers, doctors are often absent or the infrastructure is limited.In community health centers, doctors may be absent or facilities may be limited. There have even been cases reported in the public domain where a State MP died, and the availability of doctor facilities at a CHC was questioned. These incidents increase public anxiety about healthcare readiness. And educated youth scan newspapers for jobs that rarely appear.
These are not abstract policy gaps. They are everyday lived experiences.
- Celebration and Contrast : Lessons from History
However, simultaneously, the state speaks proudly of hosting major sporting events, promoting music, investing in film production, and building a creative economy.
The contrast is hard to ignore.
Let us be clear. Sports, music, and cultural investments are not irrelevant. They build identity. They create aspiration. Cities such as Bengaluru and Pune did not develop on the back of industry alone; they developed an ecosystem to attract talent and creativity. Cultural richness is important.
However, these cities first ensured sound infrastructure, connectivity, and private investment. They laid the groundwork before hosting festivals.
Development cannot become performance. History offers a lesson from the later Roman Empire. As economic strain and public frustration grew, rulers relied on grand spectacles and entertainment to calm people temporarily. These distractions eased unrest for a while, but they never solved the deeper problems at the heart of society. Spectacle can comfort, but it cannot replace meaningful reform.
Today, many citizens quietly ask: are we building stadiums while basic services struggle? Are we celebrating events while youth search for employment?
These are uncomfortable questions, but necessary ones.
- Brain Drain in Meghalaya: Youth Facing Employment Crisis
Every awakened mind in the state knows that Meghalaya is facing a deep job opportunity crisis. Government jobs are limited. Entrepreneurship cannot be imposed on every graduate. Private investment remains thin. As a result, educated youth often leave the state and settle in metro cities because suitable jobs exist only there. Brain drain has become normalised. It is not migration by choice alone, it is migration compelled by necessity. Even those young people who genuinely wish to serve their own society are forced to leave in search of livelihood. That is not ambition, that is compulsion. And it is unfortunate for the state.
The comparison becomes even more stark when we look beyond our borders. At recent national-level technology summits, states such as Andhra Pradesh reportedly signed multiple MoUs with global technology firms. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Maharashtra have been aggressively attracting investment in emerging sectors. Meanwhile, Guwahati is steadily positioning itself as a metro economic hub for the entire Northeast, and Visakhapatnam is being developed as a major technology destination, drawing lessons from Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
Meghalaya, with its climate suitability and potential for data infrastructure and knowledge-based services, could aspire to similar growth. Shillong has the natural advantage and the intellectual base. Yet, it lags behind in attracting large-scale technology investment. Opportunity exists. Momentum must follow.
- Inclusiveness and Disparity
At the same time, population growth remains significant. A growing youth population without matching employment generation creates structural pressure. When opportunity shrinks, vulnerability expands. Youth drift towards drugs, risky behaviour, and eventually health crises. The long-term social consequences can be serious for those who think about the future responsibly.
All these lack of inclusiveness is increasingly becoming the cause of high economic disparity within society.
It is not sustainable.
If even 10,000 stable private sector jobs were created in Shillong through technology or service-sector investment, the economic multiplier would be transformative. Local businesses would expand. Housing markets would strengthen. Tourism would grow organically. Purchasing power would escalate within the state.
Inclusive development is not charity. It is economic logic.
- Foundations Before Floodlights
However, investment needs assurance. It needs power in every village. It needs water infrastructure that works in a predictable manner and at times that are compatible with the rhythms of everyday life. It needs connectivity, a proper policy framework, and competent human resources.
The government prides itself on being one of the more rapidly expanding economies in the country. However, growth rates need to be measured in terms of inclusive development. What is the point of having a high GDP if development is not balanced? What does economic growth mean if large chunks of villages are left out?
This is not a criticism; it is a plea for greater inclusiveness in governance.
The government needs to first make sure that the basic necessities of life are available to all. Power, water, healthcare, and connectivity are not niceties. They are the building blocks of education and employment. Without them, talk of being a major sporting or cultural destination sounds out of touch with reality.
- The Question of Priorities
The present budget appears ambitious in language and scope. However, many youth feel that the budget does not give enough priority to employment generation or youth empowerment. It seems that projects involving heavy capital outlays and prestige projects get more attention than job creation initiatives at the grassroots level. The implementation of the budget is the key question here.
The consultancies can have very ambitious plans and very impressive reports, but it is only through implementation that actual change can be brought. The local institutions need to come forward and lead the way to train and empower the people, instead of leaving everything to the consultants. The skill development programs need to be more closely linked to the industry and job opportunities, so that the youth get practical skills that correspond to the jobs that are available or can actually be created. This is the only way in which ambitious plans can actually bring about benefits to the people of Meghalaya.
This is not an argument against sports or culture. It is an argument for sequencing and seriousness.
If Meghalaya is set to host national-level events in 2027, then this preparation should also ensure well connectivity, constant power supply, reliable water supply, functional healthcare centers, lower school dropout rates, and actual private investment inflow.
- What Development Should Mean
Real development is not assessed by the strength of floodlights illuminating stadium grounds. Real development is assessed by the ability of a young graduate to secure decent work without having to move out of the state, and by the ability of a family to turn on a tap without worrying about the cost.
Unless opportunity is consolidated and youth are meaningfully engaged in productive employment, the state faces a possible transition into a period of greater social tension. Brain drain will worsen. Opportunity crisis will deepen. Meghalaya does not require showmanship to demonstrate its value. It requires organization. It requires inclusiveness. It requires opportunity.
The choice before policymakers is simple but urgent:strengthen foundations first, or allow frustration to quietly accumulate beneath the shine of stadium lights.
The future of Meghalaya will not be decided under floodlights, but in the quiet, foundational work of building opportunity.
(The writer is an Independent Columnist and Policy Analyst)
