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Me’gong fest to promote culture, diversity of NE: CM

Shillong, November 18, 2021: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday inaugurated the ‘Me’gong Festival’ that aims to promote the culture, diversity and the lifestyle of the Garos.

The three day fest is showcasing the different brew from across the region. In this year’s event, apart from Meghalaya participants from Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Assam are showcasing their traditional drinks, mostly made out of rice and fruits.

Inaugurating the festival at Babadam in the outskirt of Tura, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said, “The festival is part of the various celebrations to commemorate Meghalaya’s 50th year of statehood and India 75th year of Independence.”

He said that through the Me’gong Festival, the tourism department will showcase Meghalaya’s Garo Hills as a tourism destination. “Due to Covid pandemic, the tourism industry has suffered, as the Covid situation is improving, the State Government has planned various events to promote and attract tourists to the State,” he said.

During the programme the logo for ‘Meghalaya at 50’ was unveiled by the Chief Minister in presence of MLAs Thomas A Sangma, Marcuise Marak and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden in India Gautam Bhattacharya.

Me’gong fest to promote culture, diversity of NE: CM

He told the gathering that a number of activities and festivals will be organised across the State in the run up to the 50th year of Statehood, which will culminate with a grand event to be held in the State capital and other parts of the State on January 21 next year.

Taking the opportunity, the Chief Minister told the gathering about the prestigious “Tribal Research Institute” (TRI), which is coming up at Chidikgre in Babadam. He said that institute (TRI) will give opportunity for research and documentation of different tribal cultures.

“We want to make TRI a vibrant centre for research and documentation of different tribal cultures. We will open this centre for all tribes of Northeast and even beyond,” he added. He further informed that the institute will be inaugurated next year to mark the birth anniversary of (L) P. A. Sangma.

He said that Me’gong will be an annual event that will be organised in the TRI campus from next year.

“We started Me’gong with a theme of exploring the different breweries of the tribal cultures. Tribal people are proud of their culture and their traditional drinks represent their cultural identities. And as a Government, we feel that people should be given an opportunity to experience the unique cultural diversities of Northeast. We all share a bond and through this festival we aim to foster our relationship,” the Chief Minister said.

He also told the gathering that next year, the Government intends to upscale the event and include more activities. “We may change the theme of the event every year, but what will remain intact is the intent to ensure that the tribal identity and culture is maintained,” he added.

Apart from brew competitions and food shows, this year’s event will witness rock shows by local talents and display of different dances from different parts of Northeast.

Initiatives : Agriculture

Launch of “Restart Meghalaya Mission’ on 15th August 2020

The Mission comprise of a series of interventions to support farmers and entrepreneurs by enabling them to build growth-promoting basic infrastructure and services. Under this Mission, 1917iTEAMS – the IT Platform aimed at enabling farmers access to agricultural information, crop advisories and markets will be expanded logistically through induction of another 100 vehicles.

Creation of the Directorate of Food Processing on May 2018

With the objective of seizing opportunities in the sector and the untapped food processing potential of the state for uplifting the livelihoods of farmers and value chain actors, the Government of Meghalaya created the Directorate of Food Processing (DFP) as a one-stop agency to handle all matters relating to food processing in the state and to deal with all central government Ministries and Agencies (viz. Ministries of Agriculture, and Food Processing, SFAC, NCDC, NABARD, etc.) in all matters pertaining to the development of agricultural food processing sector.

First Ever Farmer’s Parliament held on 4th - 5th December 2018

The parliament was organised by the state department of agriculture in collaboration with Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) and the Hill Farmers' Union (HFU). As a step toward the promotion of new technologies, HFU with the support of Meghalaya government, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence App for farmers — called Nongrep (nongrep in Khasi language means farmer) with its software partner Impetus Solutions from Hyderabad — as a social innovation project. This app will address matters of farm aggregations, soil health and disease identification, crop yield, farm produce pickups, market linkage and retail sellers app.

Launch of the Farmer’s Portal on 7th May 2018

The Meghalaya Famers’ Portal (www.megfarmers.gov.in) of the Department of Agriculture is a platform for farmers to seek any information related to agriculture. Detailed information on farmers’ insurance, agricultural storage, crops, extension activities, seeds, pesticides, farm machineries, etc. is provided. Details of fertilizers, market prices, package and practices, programmes, welfare schemes are also given.

Awards & Recognitions
  • Meghalaya has been selected for the Commendation award in 'Total foodgrains Category-III' for 2017-18. The award consists of a citation and an amount of Rs. 1 crore.
  • Meghalaya Agriculture Department and the MIE Meghalaya Team won the '7th eNabling North East (eNorth East) Award 2019-20' in the 'Agriculture & Rural Development' category for 1917 iTEAMS project which is a project in collaboration with Digital India.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded Meghalaya on May 2018 the Krishi Commendation Award for the year 2015-16, in recognition of the commendable foodgrains production achieved by the State.
  • Meghalaya has been adjudged the Most Improved Small State in the category of Agriculture and received the India Today – "The State of the States” Award on 23rd November 2018.