Shillong, Aug 12: “Meghalaya does not lack talent but lacks an ecosystem to bring aspirants together with guidance and support,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Wednesday while attending ‘Ascent 2026’ at the MATI Campus, Mawdiangdiang.
The seminar focused on building an ecosystem for success in UPSC and other competitive exams. During the programme, CM-Aspire cheques were distributed to successful candidates.
Congratulating MATI, the Chief Minister called the initiative “a very noble and important step to give direction to our vision of achieving success in UPSC and other competitive exams.” Drawing parallels with the STAR sports program that identified athletes among 30,000 youth for Olympic goals by 2036, he said CM-Aspire aims to similarly support UPSC aspirants through guidance, training and financial assistance.
Stressing the need for clear goals and teamwork, he said “We need to have goals and targets with a clear vision of what we want to achieve.” On governance, he described it as an “infinite game” requiring vision, policy, bureaucratic capacity and continuous monitoring and adaptation.
Addressing students, teachers and parents, he spoke on failure, resilience and purpose, urging aspirants to find their motivation. “Success or failure is not in our hands but to regret that we have not tried and given our best efforts is definitely in our hands,” he said. He also underlined the need to build a culture of innovation, sports and entrepreneurship so Meghalaya youth can contribute to nation building.
Director MATI Swapnil Tembe spoke on challenges and strategies to improve UPSC performance in the state. Seven candidates who cleared the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination received CM-Aspire cheques of Rs 50,000 each.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated the Digital Learning Lab at MATI and invited suggestions to further strengthen the CM-Aspire program.
