By Roy Kupar Synrem
For over a decade, a disturbing silence has hung over Meghalaya’s representation in India’s most powerful administrative institutions. While young men and women from across the country enter the elite ranks of the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and other central services through the examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, Meghalaya has watched largely from the side-lines. This is not merely an academic concern. It is a crisis of leadership, opportunity, and representation. For twelve long years, the state has struggled to produce a consistent stream of successful candidates in the Civil Services Examination. The last widely acknowledged tribal candidate from the state to break through this formidable examination was Isawanda Laloo in 2012.
The Civil Services Examination is not just another competitive test. It is the gateway to the institutions that run the Indian state. Officers trained through this system eventually become district administrators, policy makers, diplomats, and national decision-makers. When a state fails to produce candidates, it slowly loses its voice within the system. Neighbouring states in the Northeast have recognised this reality. States like Assam and Manipur consistently produce several successful candidates every year. Their youth compete with confidence and ambition. Meanwhile, Meghalaya has allowed a culture of complacency to settle in. The question must be asked honestly: How did a state filled with talented youth reach this point?
The first answer lies in the declining strength of the education system. Schools in Meghalaya have for too long prioritised rote learning over critical thinking. Students graduate with degrees but often without the analytical skills, writing ability, and intellectual discipline required to face one of the toughest examinations in the world. Universities have also failed to become centres of intellectual challenge. Debate, research, policy discussions, and academic competitiveness remain limited. A generation of young people grows up without being pushed to test their limits.
In cities like Delhi, Hyderabad and even Guwahati, civil services preparation has become an ecosystem. In Meghalaya, this ecosystem is almost non-existent. A serious aspirant must leave the state, spend lakhs of rupees, and survive years of uncertainty just to compete. For many families, this is simply impossible. The result is predictable: dreams die before they even begin.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this crisis is the lack of urgency shown by policymakers. Successive governments have spoken about youth empowerment, education reform, and employment generation. Yet very little has been done to systematically prepare Meghalaya’s youth for national-level competitive examinations. Other states have established dedicated civil services academies, provided stipends to aspirants, and built mentorship networks involving serving officers. If a state does not invest in its future administrators, how can it expect its youth to compete with the rest of the country?
The consequences of this neglect are profound. When a state lacks representation in national services, its concerns risk being misunderstood or overlooked in policy discussions. Officers who understand the social, cultural and geographic realities of the region become fewer within the system. Equally damaging is the psychological effect on the youth. When young people rarely see someone from their own state succeeding in national examinations, ambition begins to shrink. Aspirations become smaller and the horizon of possibility narrows.
Meghalaya cannot afford another decade of absence. The state must act with urgency and determination. A fully funded civil services academy must be established immediately, with experienced mentors and rigorous training programmes. Scholarships and stipends should support deserving aspirants from economically weaker backgrounds. Schools and colleges must begin career guidance programmes that introduce students to the possibility of national service. Above all, the youth of Meghalaya must rediscover their confidence.
The state has never lacked intelligence or talent. What it lacks is a system that encourages ambition and rewards hard work.The challenge is not beyond us. But it requires a collective awakening—from government, educators, civil society and young people themselves. Meghalaya must reclaim its place in India’s civil services. Not tomorrow but Now.
(The writer is an Advocate and President of the Hynñiewtrep Youths’ Council. He can be reached at royk.synrem@gmail.com)
