Shillong, Jun 22: The Meghalaya Early Childhood Development (ECD) Mission has been honoured with the Gold SKOCH Award in the category of Early Childhood Development at the 108th SKOCH Summit held in New Delhi.
The award recognises Meghalaya’s pioneering efforts in building a comprehensive and collaborative model for ECD, placing the state among the country’s leading innovators in social development and governance.
The selection process for the award was rigorous, beginning with a national-level evaluation that commenced in March 2026. The Meghalaya ECD Mission underwent multiple scrutiny rounds, including public voting and comprehensive reviews by third-party experts. Evaluation criteria encompassed project presentations, documentation reviews, visual narratives, and a detailed assessment of the program’s outcomes.
Throughout the evaluation, the Meghalaya ECD Mission illustrated its integrated approach to early childhood development, a statement today said.
Led by the Department of Social Welfare, this mission effectively brought together various stakeholders, including health departments and community organisations, to improve outcomes for children during the most critical years of life.
The jury recognised Meghalaya’s efforts in creating a statewide ecosystem for child development that goes beyond service delivery to focus on community ownership, behaviour change, responsive caregiving, nutrition, early learning, and multi-sectoral convergence. The mission’s innovative initiatives, including community engagement through faith-based organisations, integration of ECD within Self-Help Group platforms, promotion of early stimulation through the Music and Movement Programme, strengthening of responsive caregiving practices, and its emphasis on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), were highlighted as key strengths of the model.
The final stage of the SKOCH Award assessment and presentation was led by a delegation from the Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission comprising Ronald Kynta, Chief Operating Officer- Meghalaya ECD Mission, Nayna Warjri, Programme Manager and Meaibor Hiam Roy M. Pdah, Civil Engineer.
