Correspondent
SHILLONG, JUNE 1: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma emphasised the need for stronger implementation mechanisms and integrated systems to improve outcomes for children and families.
Addressing a three-day Early Childhood Development (ECD) Implementation Science Workshop in Shillong, Sangma underscored the importance of having a shared vision and clarity of purpose, while also recognising that no single model can be applied uniformly across different contexts.
The workshop organised under the Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission (MECDM) in collaboration with the State Capability Enhancement Project (SCEP), the Van Leer Foundation, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has brought together policymakers, development practitioners, and experts from across the country.
Sangma said meaningful change often depends not on introducing new schemes but on improving the implementation of existing programmes.
Drawing on Meghalaya’s experience in addressing maternal mortality, Sangma said that the State initially assumed that increasing institutional deliveries would solve the problem.
However, he said a deeper analysis revealed that the real barriers were economic and logistical in nature, including transportation costs, distance, and the lack of support systems for expectant mothers.
“The lesson here is that we must identify where the actual problem lies and then design solutions that are practical, affordable and tailored to local realities,” he said. Sangma stressed the importance of outcome-based governance, stating that success should be measured by improvements in people’s lives rather than the completion of infrastructure projects alone.
Referring to the state’s preparations for the National Games, he said the true value of investments in sports infrastructure would be reflected in the achievements of young athletes.
Patricia Núñez Zamora of the Van Leer Foundation shared lessons from Chile’s nationally recognised early childhood development system, Chile Crece Contigo (Chile Grows With You).
She said the biggest challenge in ECD is often not the lack of services, but the inability to coordinate them effectively around the needs of children and families.
Additional chief secretary Sampath Kumar highlighted Meghalaya’s progress in advancing integrated early childhood development and said the state was among the first in the Asia-Pacific region to adopt a comprehensive ECD mission.