Shillong, Mar 7: Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K Sangma, on Saturday noted that Meghalaya has about 17,000 sq km of forest cover, and the government aims to conserve one lakh hectares under the Green Meghalaya+ initiative.
The Chief Minister said the programme incentivises forest owners and communities to conserve forests by providing Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 per hectare under the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) concept.
Sangma informed that so far, over 2,800 beneficiaries have conserved nearly 40,000 hectares of forest land across the state.
He said that a total of Rs. 77.21 crore has been disbursed under Green Meghalaya+, including Rs. 34.73 crore in the Garo Hills region, while around Rs. 48 crore will be released to beneficiaries in the current phase.
In South West Garo Hills, incentives amounting to Rs. 48.23 lakh are being distributed to beneficiaries from Rerapara, Zikzak and Betasing blocks, covering 551.18 hectares of forest area under conservation.
On the FOCUS+ programme, Sangma said that it was launched in July 2022, to provide direct financial support of Rs. 5,000 annually to eligible producer households across the state to strengthen rural livelihoods.
He stated that the scheme follows a “one beneficiary per household” rule to ensure fairness and avoid duplication.
The Chief Minister informed that during the initial rollout in 2022–23, 1,50,662 beneficiaries received Rs. 75.33 crore.
He said that following a verification exercise integrated with the Meghalaya One Portal, 93,285 beneficiaries were confirmed as eligible, while those removed were allowed to reapply through the portal.
Sangma informed that for 2023–24, payments were delayed to strengthen the system, after which Rs. 2,500 was released in August 2025 and another Rs. 2,500 in December 2025, amounting to Rs. 46.64 crore.
He said that for 2024–25, the government is releasing the first tranche of Rs. 2,500 for 93,285 verified beneficiaries and 11,133 newly verified households from the Garo Hills region, bringing the total number of households supported under FOCUS+ to 1,04,418.
The Chief Minister said that so far, Rsn 148.08 crore has been disbursed under the scheme.
He said that in the Garo Hills region, the current tranche will benefit 81,046 households, including 11,133 new beneficiaries, with Rs. 20.26 crore being released across the five districts.
In South West Garo Hills, 14,017 beneficiaries will receive Rs. 3.50 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Rangsakona MLA Subir M. Marak reiterated the Government’s continued commitment to uplifting the community through financial support under schemes such as FOCUS+ and Green Meghalaya.
He stated that the Government is working tirelessly to ensure that financial assistance reaches the people of the region and highlighted its ongoing efforts to achieve this objective.
